Thank you to the Department of Business Studies

I sent out the following thank you email yesterday to all my colleagues from DBS:

DBS Colleagues,

With exams and marking now behind us and my time here at UNITECH as a

volunteer and member of DBS Staff slowly drawing to an end I wanted to

take this opportunity to thank everyone for the support and

encouragement you have all given me over the past 20 months.

Xmas is fast approaching and I know that many of you will soon be

departing for your holiday destinations. So before you all leave UNITECH

for your well deserved holidays, I would like to acknowledge how much

you have all been a part of my life during my stay in Lae. A special

thanks goes to Mr Ilave, Dr Greenland and Mr Gimiseve for their help and

input when I first arrived in April 2005 but also throughout the course

of my assignment. Without their help and assistance my job within DBS

and the IT Section would have been that much more difficult.

I have made a decision to stay on in PNG and recently accepted an offer

for a two year contract at Goroka. I am due to start this new position

in February 2007 but first will be heading back to Sydney to catchup

with family and friends over the xmas break.

Life in PNG has certainly been an eye-opener and I have witnessed  and

experienced some of the daily struggles faced by the people. The

challenges facing PNG and it's people are definitely surmountable

although there are many times when I see the lure of power and money

corrupting the very people that are in a position to make a difference.

Despite the problems I believe PNG to be a special place, with a unique

combination of ethnicity, languages and culture. There are many times

when I feel a strong sense of privilege to have been given an

opportunity to live and work here.

Finally, I would like to wish everyone a safe and joy filled festive

season, when driving do so with caution, eat and drink in moderation and

enjoy that well earned rest.

Your friend and colleague,

Robert Schilt

NB: If you wish to stay in touch you may do so via my website :

Trupela Tok

Senior Technical Instructor

Department of Business Studies

PNG University of Technology

Private Mail Bag

Lae, Morobe Province

Papua New Guinea

Tel: +675 4734414

Mob: +675 *******

Email: mailto:rschilt@dbs.unitech.ac.pg