Vocational trainees celebrate graduation in Cairns

 BRINGING cool air back to PNG is the main goal of a recent refrigeration graduate of the Technical Vocational Education Trade Skills Scholarship programme. 

Lavinia Yablan was brought up in Sandaun before travelling to Cairns for four months this year to undertake her Certificate Two in refrigeration.

It is part of the Queensland Government’s scholarship programme, which sees PNG students travelling to Cairns or Townsville to complete training in one of 11 trades.

“Back in PNG, the climate is very hot so I want to bring back cool air,” she said.

Yablan told the Cairns Post that she has had the best experiences in Far North Queensland, touring the Great Barrier Reef and celebrating her 21st birthday at Cairns’ Tropicana Lodge.

Hospitality graduate Casper Norman Timothy, 22, from Manus Island, said the highlight of going to Australia to study was getting a girlfriend. 

With a passion for cooking, Casper aims to become a head chef in a hotel in PNG before returning to Australia and his girlfriend.