When the opportunity came to attend a women’s leadership training course in Bougainville in 2019, supported by the PNG-Australia Partnership, the ambitious single mother leapt at the chance.
The experience, she says, has been life-changing, teaching her about qualities and attributes that have helped her succeed both in work and life.
“It made a lot of difference,” she says.
“It has helped me a lot.”
“Prior to that I would make decisions but then hold back because there was somebody there as my boss but I am the boss now and making decisions,” Ms Gesa said.
Now, as Director of National Functions in the MPA, Ms Gesa is responsible for improving the coordination and delivery of national government services in Morobe, particularly at the district and local government level.
The skills and confidence she has developed through the training have been invaluable in helping her take on the challenge of making a difference in the lives of the many people living in Morobe’s rural areas.
“We are promoting gender and family and sexual violence awareness, and we want to see a safe community, a place where there is no discrimination, whether you are female or a person with a disability,” Ms Gesa says.
It is still early days but she has already helped organise and facilitate a combined awareness raising campaign involving representatives of eight national and provincial law and justice agencies and organisations.
The team of 17 officials has visited three of Morobe’s nine districts to provide information on COVID-19, African Swine Fever, family and sexual violence and other law and justice issues, and for her team to learn about the challenges and concerns faced by rural communities in accessing government services.
Ms Gesa wants to see national agencies working together to deliver cohesive and coordinated services at the district and local level.
“We want to bring services right down to where the bulk of the people are,” Ms Gesa says. “Success will be when they have lighting in the districts, good sanitation, people getting an education, money in their pockets.”
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Morobe Provincial Administration Director, National Functions, Fiona Gesa.