Evan J. Paki [PNG Ambassador]
Evan Jeremy Paki is Ambassador of Papua New Guinea (PNG) to the United States of America. He also concurrently serves as PNG’s High Commissioner to Canada and Ambassador to Mexico. Ambassador Paki holds a Master of Laws (LLM) degree from Harvard Law School, where he was a Fulbright Scholar. He also studied at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and the International Law Institute in Washington, DC.
In the spring of 2007 Ambassador Paki initiated the conversation that led to the formation of PANANGO. Thereafter Ambassador Paki hosted the PANANGO reconnaissance team in Port Moresby in Summer 2007 and has been our closest of partners, allies, and supporters.
Leslie V. Rowe [U.S. Ambassador]
Leslie V. Rowe was sworn in as the U.S. Ambassador to Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu on September 5, 2006. Her previous posting was as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, the largest U.S. Embassy in Sub-Saharan Africa. Ms. Rowe received a B.A. from Washington State University, an M.A. from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and a M.Ed. from Northeastern University. She also holds a certificate from the Sorbonne in Paris, France, and was a Fulbright scholar in Germany. Prior to joining the Foreign Service, Ms. Rowe served as Director of the International Office at Tufts University. She has also taught foreign languages at the secondary school level.
Ambassador Rowe has been an active supporter of PANANGO since the reconnaissance team's first meeting with her and her helpful staff at the US Embassy in Port Moresby. In 2008, she meet with Panango volunteers in Madang.
Sir Arnold Amet [Governor, Madang Province]
Elected in August 2007, Sir Arnold Amet is governor of the Madang Province, Papua New Guinea. Sir Arnold Amet has nearly twenty years of experience serving on the PNG Supreme and National Courts, including ten years in which he served as Chief Justice to the Office of Governor.
In 2007, he met with the PANANGO team at the offices of the provincial government in Madang City, Papua New Guinea and offered his personal support for Panango. In 2008, four Panango team members founded the Panango Policy Analysis Group to report back to Sir Amet and the provincial government on their observations of education, infrastructure, and governmental organization policy and practice. They presented their detailed report to the governor at the end of the summer. A copy can be downloaded here.
Malek Atua [Founder, Pacific Health Education School]
Malek Atua grew up on the Waskia side of Karkar Island in Tarak Village, where Panango based its program in the summer of 2008. He has had 32 years of experience in medical management, education, and administration in various countries including Papua New Guinea, Australia, the Philippines, and Malaysia. He now resides in Madang Town, and is the Principal Director of the Pacific Heath Education School on Karkar Island. This new and innovative project will provide health education for local people in order for them to become nurses at satellite clinics in around Madang province.
Mr. Atua took the Panango team under his wing in 2007, arranging the trip to Karkar Island that laid the basis of our pilot project in 2008. His gracious hospitality helped make the 2008 trip a success. Mr. Atua continues to be an indefatigable Panango supporter.