Veronica a beacon of resilience

By ANTOINETTE POIVI
IN the hushed corridors of academia, where innovation intertwines with ambition, Veronica Suwae Binding’s story emerges as a beacon of resilience and determination.
Six months ago, following the loss of her mother, Veronica stood at a crossroad, her spirit stretched and tested by grief and uncertainty.
However on April 5, two weeks ago, she stood adorned in her graduation gown, a testament to her unwavering resolve and indomitable spirit, as the first local woman to graduate as a biomedical engineer at the University of Technology.
“My goal is to be able to help make sure all our health centers around the country can eventually cater for all the health needs of their patients within their areas without having to seek medical attention from outside. I’m grateful to have friends who guide me closer to God and help put all my sadness and anxiety onto Him.”
Her parents are from Morobe and West Papua. She is the youngest of five siblings. She was raised by her single mother, plus her mum’s elder sister and the husband who is from Manus. He became the father figure in Veronica’s life.
She took up Science in high school, planning to work in a medicine-related field to be able to help people.
She came across the biomedical engineering course during the online selection and decided to do some research on it.
“I had no idea what it was. The course was introduced in 2020. After doing a deep dive into the course, I was intrigued and decided to take it up.”
Veronica’s biggest challenge was being a pioneer in that course.

“ No matter how hard or challenging it is, keep going and put in the extra work and effort.”

“Although a great honor, it was bittersweet because that meant we were basically the guinea pigs. The learning part was still becoming established and availability of lecturers and not enough resources.
“There are less than 40 licensed and trained biomedical engineers in PNG. Most of our lecturers lived overseas. So most of our classes were online.”
One thing she struggled with was the being easily distracted and complacent because there was no physical constant discipline and online learning, which gave them a lot of free time. Added to that was the different time zones that delayed communication.
“If you had any queries about certain topics, you couldn’t really get clarification right away. It required a lot of self-learning and doing your own research.”
She would have given it up if not for the support of her siblings, her maternal aunt, her family in Lae – the Tuckayos and Ayamisebas who she relied heavily upon when in school – and her friends and course mates.
“They (course mates) were able to help me with my work and keep me updated while I was away for all of my final semester, having lost two parental figures at that time.”
After her father’s rausim haus krai, she returned to Lae. Then her mother was admitted to hospital.
“I felt helpless as I was miles away in another city knowing we couldn’t do much but rely on the medicine and medical equipment to keep her alive.”
Veronica worked under and was mentored by a few female biomedical engineers before obtaining their certificates and licences outside PNG.
She has been doing a lot of self-reflection and spending more time with her family and friends.
“Allowing yourself to break down and cry every now and then is essential, as bottling emotions never helps. For me staying in Lae longer and not coming straight home where there would be a constant reminder of my mother not being around helped me to continue with everyday life.”
Her advice to “all the lovely ladies out there” is to continue pushing yourselves and do things out of your comfort zones.
“No matter how hard or challenging it is, keep going and put in the extra work and effort.”