My name is Dr Jane Awi from Simbu in the Highlands province. I am a lecturer at the University of Goroka.
As part of my administrative roles, I am also the executive director of the Somare Research Institute, which is a new research institute set up to promote all research activities at the university.
I returned from my doctorate studies from the Queensland University of Technology where I was sponsored by the Australian government for a PHD study. After my studies overseas, I felt the immediate need to give something back to the community.
I realized that the Moresby Arts Theatre (MAT) was doing such wonderful work in terms of promoting arts education in Port Moresby. This is where I expressed the interest to participate and it has been a great journey for me since.
I have had a wonderful time bringing in students from the UOG to participate in this wonderful program for high school students, the ‘Youth Arts Program’ (YAP) initiated by the MAT.
In the program, there are many levels of influence. I think at the High school level we see young people communicating effectively and clearly through the process of drama and theatre training that we give them. We give them all the communication tools that really prepare them to align their thinking and communicate their thoughts effectively.
Communicating thoughts means communicating ideas, communicating community issues and also topics for clarity, and we have seen that level of improvement amongst the young people - the high school students who are participating in this program. It also gives them an opportunity to work as a team. You depend on each other’s skills and talents and you have to be disciplined to deliver a project.
This is our 6th year running the program and it has been very successful, because I must say, it’s a program that sustains itself.
And what do I mean by this? Many of the students at the UOG who participated in the YAP, have graduated and they are now teachers in PNG schools. Some of them have been teaching in NCD, and those that graduated and became teachers have introduced the YAP to their own students.