by Rachael Shisei – EM TV News, Madang
John Taka was named Alumnae Student of the Year when the Divine Word University opened the Alumnae Park on Monday.
He was the man of the moment. His name is the first to be engraved onto the Immortality Wall, not only for fame, but rather a challenge for the university’s future generations.
“60 Queen’s young leaders from Commonwealth countries were selected for innovation, for creativity, for community service, and I was one of them,” said Taka.
Hailing from the Wagnum village in the Mul District of the Western Highlands Province, Taka realised that mothers in his village who travel very far just to give birth must be helped, so he initiated a village clinic which recently opened.
“I want to have a partnership with the government and NGOs so that the maternity ward can be built, and mothers in my village can have proper rest and have their babies,” he said.
Taka, supported by his fellow villagers, has come up with and spent K20,000 to plough the land, and he is now looking to partner with NGOs and the government, to help push this vital service to the mothers in his village.
“We don’t need the outsiders to come into our country and fix things for us, we can do it ourselves together while we are still young and strong,” is Taka’s advice to young men and women around the country.
