Everyday people PNG

My job as a quality assurance auditor with Air Niugini Limited has made all that possible and more.

However, life was never easy.

My dad passed away when I was in Grade 11 so from that time – from secondary school to the University of PNG – it was odd jobs and selling biscuits and noodles.

I even joined the UPNG Uniforce Spartans and signed up to be a student leader so at least I could get an allowance.

Mum would send K20 a fortnight but most times, I’d discourage her from sending money.

Steven Jeffery Pala’s interest in playing the drum started when he was a kid. He was inspired by the Sound of Daru Band, who performed live in his village.

He was inspired also because the local drummers made music to earn an income and fight poverty.

Every afternoon after school, young Steven would watch this musician’s play in a spot called Bamukona where he grew up. He enjoyed doing other fun activities, but as soon as the musicians started setting up, he would be there right next to the drummer to see how he set up his instrument.

Inspired by my late father, Corporal Patrick Peyton, who was a transport engineer with the Engineering Battalion in the PNG Defence Force, I pursued a career as a metal fabricator and welder with Bismark Maritime for three years.

I continued on to being a boiler maker and welder with Boinamo Enterprise Limited for eight years before joining Hidden Valley Mine.

I have always wanted to be like my father, doing jobs in the technical field, and it’s been exciting working here.

I come from Karkar Island in the beautiful Madang Province of Papua New Guinea. Being the youngest in the family of nine and growing up in the Island of Karkar, life in the village was simple yet tough.

At times, I helped my father to cut and sell Copra in order for him to pay for my older siblings school fees. When I was in grade 1, a tragic thing happened. My father passed away through illness. Despite this tragedy, I continued to fend for myself,  cutting and selling copra, this time, to pay for my own education.

My passion for my role and my ability to multitask and demonstrate balance in my work, stem from my mother, my greatest role model.

My mother was the after-hours nursing coordinator at the Port Moresby General Hospital, one of the busiest hospitals in the country. She was passionate about her role, and her family, and was able to maintain a work-life balance. I admire this quality and try my best to apply this to my life.

I come from a mixed parentage of East Sepik and Milne Bay, but have lived most of my life in the city, completing my education in Port Moresby.

The young freelancer travels around the country to inspire the younger generation to reach their goals in life. Burua is also an author and motivational speaker.

“I am really excited to be part of the team. But as they say, with great power comes great responsibility, we have to put in the work and do what we have to do to make sure the country can benefit in the end”, said Burua.

I love to help out when and wherever I can so in my free time I like to help out at the ultimate women’s fitness group called Break a Sweat. I assist with training women because I love playing sports and staying healthy and fit.

I represented Papua New Guinea in Rugby Union and Canoeing. In 2015, I participated in the Pacific Games. After that I lived in Adelaide, South Australia for almost 2 years, and I played there as well.

When I returned to PNG, I was playing Rugby Union as an inside center, representing PNG Palais. Now I play with Casowari 15-a-side.

My passion for music grew deeply about 14 years ago. I joined my first band back in Alotau, and that was the start of my musical journey.

I entered myself into a national singing competition where I managed to make it all the way to the finals and this is where I learnt many things about music and singing.

During this competition, I learnt vocal training and the disciplines required into becoming and being a good musician and this helped the growth in my talent.

I have never travelled further then my home Papua New Guinea, but that is about to change with the opportunity of a lifetime presented to me with the help of my uncle Kwalahu, who was once a dancer for the Siale Dance troupe.

I have been a dancer for many years. In my youth, I experienced obstacles, but I always stood firm in believing that good changes were only a while away. For me, that time is now. Slowly but surely doors will open and opportunities given from hard work.

Along with my two brothers, Tau Nauna and Gaba Nauna, we started this side SME called N-Trio Headlights Retrofits and basically what we do is sell and custom-fit projector headlights for vehicles. 

The main reason why we wanted to start up this business was to especially, help our parents financially, but I believe the idea behind this was driven by passion, because growing up the three of us loved vehicles, and we would do little alterations to our dad’s vehicle.