Preparing for Tari

I will be leaving POM on Thursday, 19-Jan, headed for Tari to attend a celebration. I have been invited to attend the Grand Launch of a brand new company, Upstream Hela Women Limited (http://uhwomen.com) and I am so very excited. There are several interesting things of note about this group of women. First, they come from the new Hela Province, an area not known for its support of empowered women. Second, the Board of Directors is made up entirely of women. Third, the 200 shareholders are also all women. It's simply phenomenal!

At the Grand Launch, several speakers of interest are on tap to speak. I, too, was asked to speak but prefer that my role continue to be one of support and encouragement; this is THEIR day. But, I'm thrilled to be invited to be there, and to be a part of it in a small way. I am so very excited, and have such high hopes for these women! Does it show?

The other really cool thing about this event will be the roll-out of this group of women's new truck. Yes, that's right...their truck. Last year my company, Trans Wonderland Limited (http://www.twl.com.pg), instituted an innovative plan to establish a consortium of trucks, 10 trucks, that would belong to 10 individual lancos [landowner companies]. This was done for a number of reasons. First, it allows lancos that were not a part of the original TWL shareholder base to participate in a business venture with TWL. Second, it allows for TWL to offset some of their capital funds by having these 10 trucks owned and paid for by others. Third, the consortium is set up to offset the risks that a single truck company might face by paying out profits and sharing expenses by the 10 trucks as a block rather than individually. And this win-win design also allowed the most amazing thing of all...it provided for a company consisting entirely of women to enter the transportation industry and participate in a real, and potentially lucrative, way.

So, I'm headed to Tari for the weekend to celebrate with these amazing women. And I can't wait to report on the happenings when I get back to POM!

Conference in Cairns

Yesterday was a CRAZY day...CRAZY I tell you!

I arrived at the conference to find the company director I was supposed to be traveling with already there. I checked in and got my boarding pass, then went over to sit with him and discuss the situation. Although he honestly believed he would be able to get an exemption on his Australian visa problems, it was just not to be. After an hour of efforts by officials on his behalf, he was told he would not be allowed into Australia.

So...he turned to me and said, "that's okay...you can deliver my presentation."

What!? Me? A presentation on the development of mining interests in Papua New Guinea?

I mean, I know that I re-wrote his paper for him, polishing it up a bit and providing some supporting evidence. But "mining"? That is just not my thing. I know very little about it beyond what I have read in his paper! Still, I boarded the plane, my mind scrambling to figure out a solution to the problem.

Everything seemed to be going fine as we headed down the runway, but as soon as the wheels left the ground, the pilot rather unceremoniously put us right back down and brought us to a screeching halt. An hour later we found ourselves back in the departure lounge waiting for another plane so we could try the whole process again. After a 2.5 hour delay, we finely got airborne and headed to Cairns.

This all would not have been quite so bad had it not been for the [serious] cough and [serious] sniffles that I've been dealing with for the past couple of days. Even today I'm rolling up wads of toilet paper to shove in my bilum [purse] and take to the conference with me as my nose running problem has not even slightly slowed down. Still, I arrived on a beautiful, albeit quite hot, day in Cairns, checked into the hotel that I am splurging on, out of my own pocket, and believe that I'm going to have a nice break.

Well...if I can find someone to make that presentation, that is. Registration for the conference starts in about 45 minutes, and I'll break the news about the Director's no-show then. Hopefully, we'll find a replacement speaker that can deliver the message and presentation I have prepared sometime after that. I am pretty darn sure, however, that the presentation is NOT going to be delivered by me.

Back on the Blog Wagon?

Yeah, I don't think I'm going to make any promises. Still, it's been a long time since I made regular postings, and I am feeling a bit disconnected from parts of the world, so I've decided to give a shot at posting little snippets from my life...again.

Today is another typical, crazy-busy day. I'm getting ready to leave the country for a conference in Cairns (Australia), so I have to finish up the week's work in just 2 days. And there is a TON of work! Tonight, our company is meeting with the IFC (local branch of the World Bank) to talk about moving forward together in a new project initiative. Tonight is the fun part, the celebration, and we will be dining out at the local Japanese (tepen-yaki) restaurant. Tomorrow the work starts, with more in-depth discussions, review of financial needs, and a couple of hours of elbow grease. I think it is actually going to be fun, and I can't wait to get started. This afternoon, however, I have to create a PowerPoint presentation (wish I could talk him into Prezi instead!) for one of the company directors who is making a presentation at the Mining and Logistics Conference in Cairns. I am actually looking forward to that event as well, as much for the break as for the business opportunities it affords us.

Well, now that I've finished my Big Rooster lunch, and checked out a couple of social networking sites, I guess it's time to get back to that LONG to-do list. Apinun!

Out My Window 365-010

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Deloitte at Night

I took some really long exposure night shots tonight, and had some fun with that. I was getting a little bored, however, so I dressed this one up even further in Photoshop. The Deloitte building is one of the highly recognised ones in Town.

Out My Window 365-009

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Town in Tilt-Shift

I occasionally like to play with an effect called "tilt-shift" to see what I can come up with. This is not one of my best examples, but in order to meet my deadline, I'm posting it anyway. This is a picture of the people at the PMV (Public Motor Vehicle) stop in the middle of Town.

Out My Window 365-008

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Windows

Although my apartment is a real "dud", it's all I can afford. I do have plans for fixing it up, but am waiting on the landlord to review my proposal. The one thing I do have going for me is the view. With an 11th floor vantage point, I get a good look at the port activities every day. Although that wouldn't be interesting to most, I find it all quite interesting. I suppose the view is something I will never tire of.

Out My Window 365-007

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Panoramic Night Shot

It's loud and wild on the street below tonight, but instead of trying to take a picture of some of that crazy people action, I decided to try some night shots of the port. I took three shots with the camera set up for 15 second exposures. Then, I went to Photoshop and stitched them all together for one, long panorama of the typical night-time view out my window. I had a fun time with it all, although I still have a LOT to learn. When I realised it was already well after midnight, I thought of posting it here since it is, technically, tomorrow.