Abraham (second left) and Moses (third from right) share a light moment on graduation day with their mentors

Training and equipping local students from Western Province in various trades is important for development.

In 2021, the Ok Tedi Development Foundation (OTDF) offered its first Graduate Development Scheme Program (GDSP) aimed at capacity building in human resources to serve the people.

OTDF hosted a graduation ceremony on July 28, 2023 for two trainees.

Moses Waiviro and Abraham Kromnong, both from the North Fly District, successfully completed two years training and received OTDF GDSP certificates under this program.

Moses hails from Hosanai village and continued training after completing a Bachelor in Sustainable Tropical Agriculture at the University of Natural Resources and Environment (UNRE) in 2021.

“Thank you OTDF and all mentors for training me in agriculture development. This has equipped me to contribute meaningfully, particularly agricultural development activities for the communities in Western Province.” he said.

Pioneer GDSP trainees share their accomplishment 

He said helping people, especially farmers from rural villages in improving agricultural development has been his great experience during the training.

The other trainee, Abraham, hails from Ningerum and had

completed Accounting studies at the University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG) in 2020. He said keeping a good financial record in any organization is important for transparent services. “Wise budgeting and spending money for intended purposes is critical in all organizations. I’ve learned a lot during the training so thank you all.” he said. Both trainees have urged other students within the province to think critically on how they should contribute meaningfully to the province’s development with acquired skills and knowledge after completing studies from various tertiary institutions throughout the country. Executive Manager Program Services Mr Eric Kuman encouraged all to continue to learn different skills in the work space. “Never stop learning and continue to gain new skills and knowledge that will shape you to be a better professional in the future.” he said. He said OTDF is committed to training young graduates from Western Province under its GDS training to build human resources in the province.

OTDF Media Vitaharo