Young guns
Four Papua New Guineans with dynamic business ideas
I realised that young people have energy, strength and ideas to help their communities flourish.
Originally from Manus Province, Christopher Lam was still a teenager when he had his first great business idea while working as a volunteer photographer for the Pacific Games News Service in 2015.
“The inspiration for Barata (his clothing brand) came from seeing Papua New Guineans showing up to support their country fully decked out in team merchandise. This gave me the idea to start producing snapback caps, which proved popular, and so we continued adding new products to our line.”
Barata (baratapng.com), meaning ‘brother’ or ‘ friend’ in tok pisin, now includes bucket hats, fitted caps, shirts, board shorts and T-shirts. “When we started out we sold under tables and in shopping centre carparks, but now we have strategic partnerships with retailers in Port Moresby and Lae that stock our full range of apparel, making it accessible to more people. We also created an online shop.”
Lam and his team weren’t content with just making a profit – they wanted to give back to their communities. In 2017, Barata launched the Sumatin schools program in Lae that facilitates debates, spelling bees and public speaking opportunities for students.
“In the future, we plan to improve the program to reach more students in other provincial centres, and to expand our range to include women’s clothing and accessories. We want to continue sharing stories of our culture through our products.”
Ruth Sapidoro Bihoro was a business management student at UPNG in 2008 when she participated in a program with The Voice Inc ( TVI), a youth development organisation based in PNG.
“I signed up because my older sister was one of the first members of TVI, but the program helped me to understand myself and to recognise how to positively move forward in life.”
In 2015, Bihoro returned home to the Huon Peninsula in Morobe Province and quickly figured out where her studies and her positivity could do some good – in helping the coastal communities of Morobe find better solutions to buy and sell their fish. “I am inspired by challenges and risks. I love to invest my time, talents and passion to achieve what others see as impossible, and the chiller project was just that.”
Morobe communities had an abundance of fish, but no cool place to store their catch, which discouraged catching large amounts and stopped the potential to increase incomes. Bihoro and her best friend, Piwen Kanawi, launched their business, Fortitude, in 2015. They built two custom-made, solar-powered, walk-in fridges that service 3000 people from three main peninsula communities. As a result of the chillers the selling price of fish has increased per kilo and the local market has expanded.
“I am currently working on the second phase of the chiller project and an ecotourism project that is in line with my passion for cultural and environmental preservation.
I am a dreamer, and I want my generation to be living in eco-friendly sustainable communities, where more goods and services can be created at the expense of fewer resources, and we can reduce waste and create less pollution.”
Len Awinup loves both technology and storytelling, and is as likely to be working behind a computer as writing poetry. But that’s no surprise given his upbringing.
“My parents were educators, so given my passion for writing, I believe that increasing adult literacy can impact a lot of lives in a positive way.”
In 2014, while studying computer science at the PNG University of Technology,
Awinup joined TVI’s three-year Leadership Development Program. “I completed all three years – Dreamer, Active Citizen and Nation Builder. Through the program I met great people and heard about the Archer Scholarship offered by the Kokoda Track Foundation, which seemed like a good next step.”
To apply for the scholarship he had to write a community project proposal, and so he naturally turned to his passion. “The ‘ Writers
Unblock Initiative’ aims to get more young people into reading and writing. Young people can make big changes in their communities and countries, but first they need to make changes in themselves.”
On the strength of his proposal, Awinup was granted the scholarship in 2017 and travelled to Australia for work experience, mentorship and leadership sessions. Last year, he was accepted into the Graduate Development Program with Westpac Bank PNG, and he now has a permanent position in the technology department. So, what’s next? “I want to get funding for the ‘ Writers Unblock Initiative’, and I might do a masters degree soon, and more writing, maybe even professionally. Only time will tell.”
It’s a long way from Alotau in Milne Bay Province to the streets of New York, but that is exactly the journey Lydia Lisa Dimokari took in January 2018 as a representative for PNG at the United Nations Economic and Social Council Youth Forum.
“One key thing I learnt from the conference was that young people have the potential to create change. Other people attending the conference were creating apps, building businesses, and using science and technology to create change in their communities. I realised that young people have energy, strength and ideas for the world, and their communities, to flourish.”
Dimokari has worked as a program officer at TVI, and volunteers with Equal Playing Field, an NGO that uses sport to promote gender equality and end violence against women in PNG. “I would like to create change in my country through being the change myself, learning and pushing myself to develop in skills and education.”
Gearing up to attend an exciting program overseas and start a new job, she is also currently working to launch a new community project in Port Moresby’s Gerehu. “I have taken a step back to self-reflect and move forward. I think that it is really important to know who you are and why you are doing something, and really asking yourself if an action will lead to better development outcomes for your community, province or nation. What does change look like and what are you going do about it?”