The 2007
PNG National Secretaries Conference
Wanigili Centre - Education Milne Bay Ltd.
The notice board at the main entrance
The notice board at the main entrance
The conference was officially launched by The honourable Governor Mr. Tim Neville
There were 200 participants there.
The lovely Mea Lou-President of The PNGSecretaries Association.
My two beautiful Aunties-Lydia and Julie also attended the conference.
Gretel-multi skilled and alwaysefficient.Here she awaits guests
to come up for lunch.
Part of the unique Wanigili experience is ourClaypot Cooking. Milne Bayans traditionally
cook in claypots. We like to add a contemporary
touch by cooking chicken or lamb curries in addition to the
usual local vegetables in coconut cream.
A traditional wooden Milne Bay bowl decorates the table.
Lunch time! The ladies certainly enjoyed the food.
Alotau International Hotel's "Jetty" night club was transformed into a dining room for the ladies'
closing dinner function.
closing dinner function.
Sandy Givens-well known Australian Public Speaker andfacilitator for The Secretaries Conference.
She was fantastic andtotally inspiring.
Here she's decked out in gifts presented to her by the secretaries.
Later that night while waiting for the secretaries to finish boogying at The Jetty,
I caught up with Elaine and my cousin Nimrod.
The 2007
National Health Conference
Wanigili Centre,EMB.
Flags from all the different provinces weredisplayed at the entrance to Wanigili Centre.
The auditorium,before the arrival of guests.
Wanigili auditorium can accommodate more than 200 people.
Traditional Milne Bay dancers preparingto greet guests upon arrival.
Guests after arrival at Wanigili.
At the end of the conference, the dancers came out.
The boys brought the pigs.
The boys brought the pigs.
and the ladies carried the yams out to be presented to conference participants.
Poor little piggy wiggy. Ok, so it's a BIG piggy wiggy!
One of the five pigs presented on the day.
Conference participants listening to speeches
Closing speeches were held on the board walk.
Wanigili Theatre Group performed an item about lack of medicine and health services
members-Rose Ila and Andy Tari at the
closing dinner, held at Masurina Lodge.
This has been one extremely busy month for Education Milne Bay. Last week we hosted the National Secretaries Conference for 200 Secretaries from all around PNG. The week prior to that we hosted the National Health Conference, also with over 200 people from all the health centres throughout the country, and this week Friday 1st June, we are hosting a cocktail night to celebrate Alotau Enterprises's 25th Anniversary. We expect up to 300 people.
Am I stressed? Well... not really actually. I think the last 2 weeks have been good practice for all of us here at EMB. I must admit, our staff have been fantastic! They put in a monumental effort with catering and house keeping etc. I was so proud of them! We only have about 20 staff (many of whom have had very little formal training or experience) and with the additional assistance of 10 extra girls, we managed to host two highly successful events. As a result we received so many positive comments from the organisers and guests alike.
200-300 guests is probably the norm for most large estbalishments, however, this is actually the first time EMB has hosted conferences of this magnitude since launching into full operation last year. Previously, I thought 60 guests was a huge event!? It has certainly been a challenging 2 weeks, made all the more so when the toilets decided to get blocked during the Secretaries Conference. Picture 200 secretaries busting to go to the loo at morning tea time and having to line up to use the toilet in the bungalow... one at a time. We even had to ferry some of them to Napatana Lodge to use their toilets! Thank Goodness the problem was rectified before the end of morning tea!
200-300 guests is probably the norm for most large estbalishments, however, this is actually the first time EMB has hosted conferences of this magnitude since launching into full operation last year. Previously, I thought 60 guests was a huge event!? It has certainly been a challenging 2 weeks, made all the more so when the toilets decided to get blocked during the Secretaries Conference. Picture 200 secretaries busting to go to the loo at morning tea time and having to line up to use the toilet in the bungalow... one at a time. We even had to ferry some of them to Napatana Lodge to use their toilets! Thank Goodness the problem was rectified before the end of morning tea!
If there's one thing I've learned about Secretaries during the conference, it's this......you don't want to mess with them!Classic case- Saturday afternoon flight to Pom (Port Moresby) was cancelled, the little Milne Bay guy behind the counter just about had his head bitten off by a hoard of very big, scary and disgruntled secretaries who were all desperate to return home to their families and weren't too thrilled about lugging their 10 rainbow bags filled with yams and buai (betelnut) all the way back to their hotels. Happy viewing!
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