Amanda Kundil, is part of a team that is undertaking the conversation into the failure of service delivery throughout the country through the Autonomy and Decentralization Research Project (ADRP) under the PNG National Research Institute (NRI).
Who is Amanda Kundil?
“I am the Communications Officer for the PNG NRI Autonomy and Decentralization Research Project. I am 22 years old and I come from a mixed parentage of Western Highlands and Eastern Highlands. I graduated from the University of Papua New Guinea, majoring in English Communication.
“I have been in this position since July this year, and it is way different from my former workplace. I am kept on my toes and am learning on the job as well!
“I was the Media Communication Officer for the Melanesian Institute (Goroka) before my current position and a Junior Reporter in the Goroka Post Courier Bureau before that. During those periods working for these two organizations, what stood out was how my connections and network grew with others and how my interpersonal and mass communication skills grew. Apart from that I learnt how to craft news stories and also did PR. These skills have definitely provided an almost smooth transition into my current role.
“A normal day at work is spent archiving media coverage of our events on all the media platforms, responding to requests and emails, organizing invites and liaising with media partners and stakeholders for upcoming events, updating our social media page and news encoding and sharing for matters related to Autonomy and Decentralization.
“I really love our fortnightly seminar series. I learn a lot about our country, its history, reforms, processes and changes, and I get to hear different views of important governance issues from experts in the field. The last one is on the 6th of October and after that we have our National Conference on the 19th to the 21st of October and I am really looking forward to it.
Outside of work, Amanda expresses her creativity through her dishes in the kitchen.
“I really love cooking and singing! Those are two of the things you would find me doing at home all the time, I love when people come over because I don’t like cooking for myself. I only started baking two months ago. I love trying and learning new things so I tried it out and was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. It has now become an income-based hobby and I am so happy for myself!”
The young woman said her job has taught her many things.
“My job has taught me how to organize, plan and manage an event, try my hand out in both photo and video editing software, how to handle a digital camera properly and I am still learning a lot on the job. If I were to share a bit during my short career in Communications, it is that what school education has taught me is almost not entirely what I am applying on the job. Learning never stops and I have experienced and am still experiencing this first hand.”
In the near future, Amanda hopes to pursue a law degree and a career in that field.
“Apart from a career in Communications, I have always aspired to take up Law since I was a little girl, but unfortunately, I was not selected for Law School in 2016. I hope in the next few years, I could reach that dream.”