Sowek wins Trukai comp

By BOSORINA ROBBY
Westpac Women in Business Trukai Community award winner Rosemary Sovek has praised the media industry for its role in making people aware of the annual event that recognises hard working women in the communities.
Sovek said she would not have known about this annual event had it not been for the extensive media coverage.
But, she said, greater awareness was needed to go out into the rural communities where other equally hard working women were trying to make their communities better places.
Sovek was speaking at the Trukai Industries headquarters in Port Moresby last Friday after she received her prize of K10,000.
She will donate the money to her charity of choice, the Malaguna Community Based Organisation in East New Britain.
“You don’t get this kind of money overnight; you have to work hard for it.
“And this has paid out for me, so thank you to my husband, family and people for your support,” Sowek said.
She said the money would help in the clean water project they were planning for the community.
Sovek, who holds several positions in the local level and provincial government and in the community, has been dubbed the ‘Red Cross blo ENB’ for her tireless efforts to help her people.
“Our big problems are water, education and health and we have to put our hearts where our people are suffering the most to help them.
“My people were displaced by the twin volcano eruptions of 1994 and have been struggling since then so this is my way of helping them,” she said.
Sovek is the manageress of Rabaul Consultancy and Management Services, whose range of services include arranging for birth registrations, passports, visas, skills training and liaison, HIV-AIDS awareness, advocacy and other community health issues and family and social issues.
She is a member of Women in Agriculture Development Foundation in the province, promoting agriculture and sustainable living.
Trukai’s promotions and production manager Maryanne Hereva said the category Trukai sponsored recognized the outstanding achievements of a female manager working for a non-government and not-for-profit organization.
She said this was the second time that Trukai had taken part in sponsorship for the charity since joining the event five years ago.
“The awards serve as a platform to highlight work that is being done by individuals or groups in our communities and an avenue to secure much needed support from business communities to assist these organizations within their community,” she said.
Sovek said as a direct result of the media’s coverage, she had been nominated to take part in a programme for women, where she would represent PNG in the United States of America.
Westpac marketing and community services manager Ruth Kedea said the nomination had come about because of media coverage and that should put the event more into the communities so that more people could nominate women in the five categories.
Kedea said the awards were to recognize, reward and celebrate the achievements of women who were extremely high achievers.
“We are proud to recognize them and their hard work and hope that more women out there will be inspired and encouraged to be high achievers as well,” she said.
“Trukai’s support is unique in such that it not only recognizes the winner, it gives back to the community and so we thank Trukai for being one of our sponsors,” she said.
The five categories in the annual event are: PriceWaterHouseCoopers Private and Corporate Sector Award, the MRDC Public Sector Award, the SP Entrepreneur Award, Trukai Community Responsibility Award and the IBBM Young Achiever’s Award.