Spotted in … Canberra
The PNG-born anthropologist
Joyce Onguglo’s first language is French – not what you would imagine for someone born in Mount Hagen and who comes from a country with 800, or so, distinct languages. “My father works for the UN and moved to Geneva (Switzerland) in the 1980s, so I grew up in a little town called Ferney-Voltaire, across the border in France,” Onguglo says. Languages are one of her fortes. “I am fluent in French, which I first learnt to read and write. I am also fluent in English, Tok Pisin, Solomon Islands Pijin, Bislama (Vanuatu pidgin) and can hold conversations in Spanish and German,” she says.
After completing high school at the International School of Geneva, Onguglo moved to Brisbane to complete a double degree in international relations and political science and business administration at the University of Queensland in 2005.
She then joined the international development and training company GRM International (now Palladium) as a project co-ordinator.
From there Onguglo undertook a stint at the UN in New York, where she worked as donor and partnerships
I really enjoy the actual field work, getting out in communities and finding out what’s going on.
relations consultant with UN Women under the leadership of Michelle Bachelet, the then executive director and now president of Chile.
But to stay with the UN required a Masters, which Onguglo is now nearing completion at the Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra.
She will graduate with a Masters in applied anthropology and participatory development, specialising in society and environment development work in Melanesia. Onguglo has always kept in touch with PNG. “We used to go back from Geneva every two years, so it was easy to get to know our PNG roots and to learn Tok Pisin along the way.
“My dad is from Kerowagi (a Sirku tribe) and my mum is from Nogar (a Gena tribe) in Simbu Province. In fact, they are from enemy tribes, although my mum and dad are very close, which goes to show what love can do.
“I speak English to them, but I am more comfortable speaking French to my two brothers and sister. They all still live in Geneva.”
She says she is grateful for knowing both village life and the more sophisticated Western lifestyle, which Geneva offers.
“Going back to PNG gave us another perspective and taught us to appreciate everything that had been given to us. Others in our family didn’t have the opportunities that we were given,” she says. The nature of Onguglo’s current work means she regularly visits PNG. Since 2014, when she started her Masters, Onguglo has worked as a project manager with ANU Enterprise, the commercial wing of the Australian National University. She oversees the development and management of contract research and consultancies associated mainly with PNG.
“Some of the work has included a social mapping exercise on the Kokoda Initiative project, which involves profiling households and social structures in the Kokoda area, as well as a World Bank project examining the effect of mining on women in mining project areas.”
She is looking forward to completing her Masters so she can continue her research work in the field on a full-time basis.
“I really enjoy the actual field work, getting out in communities and finding out what’s going on.”
Family and friends preoccupy much of her non-working time, although she stays fit by running or going for short hikes. There’s little snow in Australia, unlike Switzerland, where she goes snowboarding during winter.
“I very much enjoy my cafe and croissant and chocolate though – that’s the Swiss influence!”