A ship watcher and admirer of the machine, from Karkar Island, Papua New Guinea, Ms Halky Tun Bomai gets an opportunity to fulfil her life time dream of becoming a chief Ship Engineer and she is not giving up. Thank you to Australian Awards Scholarships, she is now a cadet officer and now training at PNG Maritime college through the Australian Awards Maritime Scholarships.
Below is her inspiration story published by Australian Awards PNG
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Living on Karkar Island, Sumkar in Madang Province. Halky became curious about the ships passing the home where she and her two siblings were raised by their mother.
“We see those big ships going past, to and from. The thing that pops up in my mind is – what is in that thing? What keeps the vessel moving? I’m curious about what’s in it and really wanted to find out how the ship is moving. That’s the reason I applied for this cadetship.” Halky hopes to successfully complete her studies this year so that she can continue the cadetship next year and complete her sea time. “I hope at the end of this cadetship I should be strong, since it is a male-dominated field. I have to be strong, confident, when working with men on the ship. What I really want to do is gain respect from men. I must respect them in order for them to respect me.”
Being raised by a single parent, Halky says that the Australia Awards PNG scholarship “means everything”. She says that scholarships are very important, especially for women in male-dominated fields as “in PNG, and around the world, most things are run by men. We need to encourage women to apply. Gender equality in every career is important.”
Inspired by her mother, the strongest person she has ever known, Halky wants to become a chief engineer.
Inspiration Story and Photo by Australian Awards PNG
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