Sprinting to the finish line!

The last few weeks of an assignment are always frantic. It's when the Partner Organisation realise you're about to leave and they have just remembered the list of things they wanted you to do.

At the end of June we ran a week of training with NARI staff and staff from sister organisations in agricultural research. It went well.

I am still working on my training materials. I have a new activity called "How do you feel?" where participants have to match emotions with scenarios. Hopefully they will learn that not all people feel the same way in positive and negative situations and will be more empathetic.

Feedback from one participant was that my slide presentation needed pictures. I'd gone for plain and simple. I've added a couple of pictures including from the children's book "Amelia Bedelia". It's a story about poor communication and is perfect for the Leadership presentation.

Then we attended the PNG Food and Nutrition Conference in the first few days of July. I chatted with so many people I had corresponded with over the last 10 months but had never met. It was fun. I'd only ever been to teacher conferences before. Our colleague Mark from the office next to ours gave a presentation.  Mark has been a great friend to us over our 12 months at NARI.

The catering was well organised - a major feat when there are 100s of participants and a 'flexible' timetable

One speaker talked about 'Prehistoric water channels'. A listener asked if it was known how old they are. The speaker replied that they'd been there since at least the early 1950s!

This week we had a second big week of training with NARI staff and other agriculture partners. We're "in the groove" now we're finished!

This group are passionately discussing what 'real leadership' looks like.

All the materials needed to run my two training courses are packaged up and ready for whomever from HR or elsewhere wants to run them!

I've been thinking about what I'll miss (and what I won't!) with our return now just 10 days away. 


I'll miss Friday night at the HBS mess where we relax and ease into the weekend .

I'll miss the Lae Main Market - I love it, Steve does not!

I'll miss the many friends we've made at work and many from outside work that we have made - fellow volunteers and others from various communities in Lae.

I will miss the beautiful forest that surrounds us and the view across the Markham valley to the mountains beyond, but I will not miss the layers of razor wire and electrified fencing that is deemed necessary to keep us safe.

One regret will be all that we haven't seen and done. Security concerns and restrictions mean we haven't been to the Highlands, or seen much other than 'resorts' outside Lae. 

Behind the fence are WWII Japanese tunnels, part of an array of interesting historical sites, pointed out to us by friends as we drove around Lae, that we just were not able to get to.  

Now to the packing up.  I'll have a full suitcase of souvenirs and half an overnight bag of clothes.  So much of what I have been wearing is not worth bringing home - the washing machine the hausmeris use is brutal!  My paintings and other art is coming home but my art materials are being distributed among our colleagues' children who enjoy drawing.  

Next post will be when we are safely home.  Jenny