Scholarships and Connections: Australia, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, 1960-2010

For over fifty years Australia has welcomed students from Indonesia and Papua New Guinea to study at our tertiary institutions on government scholarships. An important premise behind the scholarship program has been the hope that the connections with Australia developed by these students will be long-lasting and mutually beneficial to Australia and partner governments. The research project ‘Scholarships and Connections’ investigates the life stories and experiences of students from Indonesia and Papua New Guinea who were sponsored for Australian-based tertiary study from 1950s-2010. By recording the personal experiences of scholarship recipients and investigating their networks of influence, this research deepens our understanding of scholarship programs and whether or not they produce outcomes that are consistent with the objective of building mutually beneficial linkages between Australia and partner countries. It examines whether the outcomes are enduring or change over time. The project is especially interested in the experiences of former scholarship-holders in positions of leadership and any networks and ongoing connections they have with Australia. This research provides a better understanding of the personal and professional networks of scholarship alumni, and encourages the sharing of experiences. The interviews will be permanently retained in appropriate repositories and drawn on for use in biographies, radio and television programs, internet applications and educational curricula for schools and leadership programs. This research promotes the values of historical research and scholarship among Indonesians and Papua New Guineans and points to the value of oral testimony from past and recent generations of mobile students for current generations facing important challenges and choices.

Questionnaire data for 'Scholarships and Connections: Australia, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, 1960-2010'

For over fifty years Australia has welcomed students from Indonesia and Papua New Guinea to study at our tertiary institutions on government scholarships. An important premise behind the scholarship program has been the hope that the connections with Australia developed by these students will be long-lasting and mutually beneficial to Australia and partner governments. The research project ‘Scholarships and Connections’ investigates the life stories and experiences of students from Indonesia and Papua New Guinea who were sponsored for Australian-based tertiary study from 1950s-2010. By recording the personal experiences of scholarship recipients and investigating their networks of influence, this research deepens our understanding of scholarship programs and whether or not they produce outcomes that are consistent with the objective of building mutually beneficial linkages between Australia and partner countries. It examines whether the outcomes are enduring or change over time. The project is especially interested in the experiences of former scholarship-holders in positions of leadership and any networks and ongoing connections they have with Australia. This research provides a better understanding of the personal and professional networks of scholarship alumni, and encourages the sharing of experiences. The interviews will be permanently retained in appropriate repositories and drawn on for use in biographies, radio and television programs, internet applications and educational curricula for schools and leadership programs. This research promotes the values of historical research and scholarship among Indonesians and Papua New Guineans and points to the value of oral testimony from past and recent generations of mobile students for current generations facing important challenges and choices.

Feeding ecology of wintering terns in Guinea-Bissau

We studied the feeding ecology of Little Terns Sterna albifrons, Sandwich Terns S. sandvicensis and Royal Terns S. maxima in the Archipélago dos Bijagós (11°40′N, 15°45′W) in Guinea-Bissau (West Africa) during the winter of 1992/1993. More than 95% of all prey taken by these terns were roundfish, ranging in weight from 0.3 to 40 g. Birds usually fed alone, but sometimes they were observed feeding in mixed-species flocks consisting of 15-200 individuals. Capture rate (n fish per hour foraging) in these flocks was higher than that of solitary birds. However, smaller fish were caught by birds foraging in flocks, so food intake rate (g/h) did not differ between solitary and flock-feeding birds. The relationships between foraging behaviour of the three tern species and abiotic factors, such as time, tide and water clarity, have been investigated. Capture rate of Royal Terns increased with water clarity. For Little Terns and Sandwich Terns, food intake rate was lower in the most turbid waters compared to clearer waters. There was very little foraging activity during high tide. For Little Terns and Royal Terns, food intake rate was about twice as high during receding and low tides as during an incoming tide. Food intake rate averaged 8 g/h in Little Terns, 60 g/h in Sandwich Terns and 45 g/h in Royal Terns. With a rough model, we estimate the maximum rate of daily energy expenditure of terns wintering in the tropics at 3 x BMR (defined as energy expenditure of inactive bird at thermoneutrality in a post-absorptive state during the resting phase of the daily cycle). From an energetic viewpoint, wintering Sandwich Terns in Guinea-Bissau seem to have an easy living.

Differences in hormone localisation patterns of K and L type enteroendocrine cells in the mouse and pig small intestine and colon

 This study has investigated the patterns of colocalisation of the conventional K cell marker, glucagon-like insulinotropic peptide (GIP), and the L cell markers, glucagon like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and peptide YY (PYY), in enteroendocrine cells (EEC) of the small intestine and colon of mouse and pig. All combinations of the hormones, 3 in a cell, 2 in a cell and 1 at a time, were encountered. In both species, the three most common EEC types contained (1) both GLP-1 and PYY but not GIP, (2) GLP-1 alone or (3) GIP plus GLP-1 without PYY. Few GIP plus PYY cells and rare cells containing all 3 hormones were encountered. Gradients of cell types occurred along the intestine. For example, in mouse, there were no PYY cells in the duodenum and few in the jejunum, but >50 % of labelled EEC in the distal ileum and colon were PYY immunoreactive. By contrast, over 40 % of EEC in the pig duodenum contained PYY, and most also contained either GLP-1 or GIP. The gradient in pig was less pronounced. It is concluded that the traditional classification of K and L cells requires revision, and that there are major inter-species differences in the patterns of colocalisation of hormones that have been used to characterise K and L cells.

The human rights needs and priorities of children with disability in Papua New Guinea

 A final report from the 'Voices of Pacific children with disability: Identifying the needs and priorities of children with disability in Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea' research project.

Innovative delivery mechanisms: Australian aid partnership with churches in Papua New Guinea

The Australian Aid programme is currently valued at AUD5 billion. The majority of this aid flows to the Asia Pacific region with Papua New Guinea and Indonesia being the largest recipients. In addition to traditional delivery mechanisms-bilateral and multilateral-the Australian Government has piloted a small partnership activity with Churches in Papua New Guinea. This paper will consider this model and the benefit it brings. Possible extension of this partnership model to non-Christian religious faiths in other countries, such as Islamic nationwide organisations in Indonesia, is also discussed.

The establishment and development of neurosurgery services in Papua New Guinea

BACKGROUND: Papua New Guinea (PNG) is a developing Pacific Nation of 7.3 million people. Although neurosurgery training was introduced to PNG in the year 2000, it was in 2003 that a neurosurgery service was established. Prior to this time, neurosurgery in PNG was performed by general surgeons, with some assistance from visiting Australian neurosurgeons. Neurosurgical training was introduced to PNG in 2000. The model involved a further 3 years of training for a surgeon who had already completed 4 years of general surgical training. We aim to review the output, outcomes and impact achieved by training the first national neurosurgeon. METHODS: The data on activity (output) and outcomes were collected prospectively from 2003-2012. Ongoing mentoring and continuing professional development were provided through annual neurosurgical visits from Australia. There were serious limitations in the provision of equipment, with a lack of computerized tomographic or MR imaging, and adjuvant oncological services. RESULTS: There were 1618 neurosurgery admissions, 1020 neurosurgical procedures with a 5.74 % overall mortality. Seventy percent of cases presented as emergencies. There were improved outcomes, particularly for head injuries, whilst hydrocephalus was managed with an acceptable morbidity and revision rate. CONCLUSIONS: The training of a neurosurgeon resulted in PNG patients receiving a better range of surgical services, with a lower mortality. The outcomes able to be delivered were limited by late presentations of patients and lack of resources including imaging. These themes are familiar to all low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and this may serve as a model for other LMIC neurosurgical services to adopt as they consider whether to establish and develop neurosurgical and other sub-specialist surgical services.

Action research in a remote district in Papua New Guinea: final report

This project investigated whether action research could be used to address ‘grassroots’ community problems in a remote district of PNG. The research team introduced, supported and researched the implementation of a pilot action research project from April to November 2015 in Abau, Central Province. The project was funded by the Australian Government and commissioned through the Economic and Public Sector Program (EPSP) managed by Coffey. The action research participants comprised people from throughout Abau with interests in women’s and gender equity issues from community groups and agencies in the district. The action research teams developed evidence-based understandings of the causes and consequences of the problems that they were addressing through their actions. The research team provided each participant with a mobile phone connected to a ‘common user group’ (CUG). This enabled each participant unlimited phone calls and SMS messaging to other participants and to the research team. The research team sent weekly sets of SMS messages to all participants to assist their action research work. The use of mobile phones to support action research in remote communities was an important element of both facilitating the action research and of the research on the pilot project itself. With such knowledge they were strengthened in purpose and intention to help their own community. This suggests that an extension of this work in other remote areas of PNG may be successful.