Stella an inspiration to her people

STELLA Tunim remembers the time her family had to flee to the mountains when the Bougainville crisis happened.
Stella, now 41, is from Vito of the Toro constituency in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville.
She looks back on those years of family hardship, of missing school, of uncertainty, and thanked God for giving her the love for reading.
The crisis deprived her of six years of school. But she loved books.
“What helped me was I usually carried around books. I would read books and the dictionary. So when I returned to school at Grade Eight, after missing six years of my education, I did really well.”
It was that passion for reading and study that helped her overcome what she might have missed in a classroom.
Today she is the secretary of the Central Bougainville Business Association which was established about 15 years ago. It is supported by the Australian Government to develop the business community on Bougainville.
She lives in Arawa with her husband and two daughters. She has a Bachelor of Business in Banking and Finance degree from the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane.
“It was the learning of the culture while in Australia that gave me the drive to come back and help my own people.”
Stella is running the association with volunteers. They are trying to increase its membership.

“ What helped me was I usually carried around books. I would read books and the dictionary. So when I returned to school at Grade Eight, after missing six years of my education, I did really well.”

“It never really took off (so) I got the association formally registered and started getting members together and paying fees so we could run the office. We now have 60 registered members of which 20 per cent are women.
“Around 100 businesses are in Arawa. They include small tucker-box shops on the street, retail shops, wholesalers, supermarkets and hardware stores. (Our) main drive is to give Bougainvilleans the opportunity to capitalise on business situations and opportunities, and for them to get involved, rather than have people coming in and operating businesses.”
The association now has a constitution and office bearers. One of its priorities is building trade links and providing training to its members.
“Most of the business owners in Central Bougainville are learning through experience. Most of them didn’t graduate or go beyond high school due to the crisis. Many hail from villages and have never lived in towns. That has been one of our biggest challenges.”
The low literacy level makes it difficult to understand basic business skills. But the association under Stella’s leadership continues to teach people how to do banking, bookkeeping, and the roles of relevant agencies such as the tax office and the investment promotion office.
Stella also manages the Apscu Development Association which provides microfinance services to rural development and economic projects such as livestock, sewing and baking.
She also runs Prime International, a consultancy agency providing reviews of non-government organisation finances and project proposals.
In 2016, Stella was allocated funding to develop cocoa production through the Nimani Farmers’ Cooperative Society which she today chairs in Vito. The funding was the initiative of the Autonomous Bougainville Government and the governments of PNG, Australia and New Zealand.
“We have completed over 50 per cent of the activities. Seedlings and tools have been distributed and the office building is now being built. We are also going to build a solar combination cocoa drier near the beach.”
The cocoa project has also contributed to reconciliation.
“During the crisis, there were problems with clans and families which had not been reconciled. Through these projects, we have no choice but to work together. We didn’t need reconciliation. The reconciliation was the cocoa project.”
That’s one stellar of an achievement for Stella.

• Picture and story provided by the Australian High Commission