Towa’s heart of gold shines

By MIRIAM MALAWA
Being an only child was not easy for Lazarus Towa who lost both his parents and opted to live in a boarding house.
Towa, 28, who hails from Kerowagi district, Chimbu, lost his mother when he was only two months old. He grew up with a father who was basically a mother and a father at the same time.
His father, a former senior public servant in Chimbu, moved to Port Moresby when Towa started school in 1998. Towa said it was challenging for both of them but they managed to stick together and make things work. When Towa was about 19 years old and in Grade 11 at Don Bosco Technical Secondary School his father passed away, leaving him with a challenge.
“I was doing my Grade 11 when my dad was very sick. I went to the hospital to see him and he told me to go and continue schooling and not to hang around at his sick bed.
“When I was at school that day, I heard that my father passed away.”
With nowhere to turn to, Towa knew that his dad’s dying words would keep him going. He knew those were the words that would help him to become somebody.
“There was no one to support me, so I took my dad’s words and moved on with that,” he said.
Towa then opted to keep living at a boarding house at the Don Bosco Technical Secondary School and help the priest with church work.
“I was lucky enough to be taken in by the priest at the boarding house at the school. So while most children went home for holidays, I stayed back and helped the priests,” he said.
With sheer determination Towa made it to the University of Papua New Guinea and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Information and Communication Studies in 2015, securing a full time job before graduating.
But Towa encountered another problem. He realised that many of his friends who he had graduated with, couldn’t find jobs.
With the aim of helping his friends, Towa created a job page on Facebook Current Job Vacancies Repost with LT in 2014 to help others find jobs by fixing their resumes and giving interview tips. He has assisted more than 200 people and opened a database of over 30,000 CVs of Papua New Guineans searching for jobs. And he does it all for free. He currently has about 75,000 followers.
Towa says he understands the hardships other young people are faced with in terms of searching for a job and willingly helps them.
“Most young people lack the skills to write an attractive CV or cover letter, and even though they may have experience, they lack the skills to express themselves on paper.”
He says young people need more help on writing attracting cover letters, CVs or know basic interview skills.
“Institutes in the country only teach students theory and do not concentrate much on teaching students on how to write an attractive CV or a cover letter.”
Towa says his aim is to help young people develop that basic skills and to reach out to more young people.
He is currently working at home but hopes to secure an office space which would help him expand his work.
In April, Towa’s work in assisting job seekers in the country through his job seekers’ page was recognised by the Commonwealth and he was selected to attend the Commonwealth Youth Forum in London, UK.
“So l had to get a small loan and l was lucky enough to get support from members of my job page who chipped in to help me on my travel,” he said.
In London, he took part in discussing issues affecting the Commonwealth countries such as climate change and rising sea levels, poverty reduction, quality education, youth unemployment, refugees, cyber security and equality, among others.
He was also one of the Pacific region’s finalists and received the 2018 Commonwealth Youth Award for his contributions to development in Papua New Guinea. Towa also had the opportunity to meet Prince Harry and his wife to-be Meghan Markle.
Towa who works as a cultural affairs assistant with the United States embassy in Port Moresby also thanked his employer for allowing him to travel to London.
“I felt blessed to be a finalist from the Pacific and one from PNG. Such recognitions will help me to reach the unreached and touch the untouched,” he said.
“I have learnt a lot from the Commonwealth Youth Forum and am looking forward to put into practice what I’ve learnt and reach out to more young people.”