It is a mother’s desire to see her child’s dream achieved.
For Joela Leke, Pacific Balance Fund fulfilled her wish when it decided to sponsor her daughter’s participation in the Miss Pacific Islands Pageant PNG. 19-year-old Melody Leke successfully secured a sponsorship with PBF.
It may seem less significant to some eyes, but Joela was lost for words during the official announcing of Miss Pacific Balance Fund 2016.
“This is something special for me,” she said.
“This is Melody’s dream and thank God, the door has opened.”
Addressing the PBF community, MPIP PNG committee and media for the first time in her life, she thanked PBF for the privilege of making things possible for her daughter.
Eyeing the Miss PNG 2016 title, Melody has credited her success so far to her mother’s perseverance.
“I come from a family where we lost our father and have been raised by a very strong woman – my hard working mother,” said the newly announced Miss Pacific Balance Fund.
Melody’s late father, Dr Daniel Leke, lecturer at the University of PNG, passed away in 2012.
Despite no formal education, Melody says Joela found means to support her family of five.
“Her encouragement to us kids is study hard and be like your father.”
Managing director of Melanesian Trustee Services Limited (parent company of PBF), Kennedy Wemin, even praised Joela for Melody.
“She is intelligent, smart, beautiful but also very grounded and a lot of that credit should go to her mother for doing a wonderful job in raising a talented and wonderful woman.
“At a tender age of 19, she’s been through life’s experiences with the loss of her father, having a single mother raise her.
“I congratulate her for having the courage and the passion to even step forward,” Wemin said.
He said Melody stood out from other potential contestants who went through a rigorous interview process with PBF.
“We want to find out that the young lady that we’re putting emulates what it is that we stand for. We are all about home-grown talents so we obviously went out looking for a very special person,” he explained.
“Through Abigail (Havora), we won Miss PNG and Miss Pacific Island Pageant and I think we’ve got our money on a winner,” Wemin added.