Editorial Note
Volume 3 marks another milestone for the Contemporary PNG Studies: DWU Research Journal as it attains the status of a ‘refereed journal’. As a quality assurance initiative, the editors recruited a group of distinguished national and international researchers to review contributions. The editors thank the members of the Editorial Advisory Board who provided their time and comments for this task. Their efforts benefit the editors, the authors and you, the readers.
The first two articles explore knowledge, attitudes and behaviour in regard to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in PNG. Dr Jerzy Kuzmo investigated the knowledge, prevalence of risky behaviour and attitudes connected with HIV/AIDS among the youth in the Madang province. Dr Catherine Levy reports on a project aimed at promoting positive behaviours towards people living with HIV/AIDS and for safe and responsible sexual activity. While being fascinating to read, many of the findings are alarming and indicate reasons for everyone to be concerned.
Many factors have impacted on the development of this nation and it is always interesting to get personal perspectives of memorable people and events. Dr Nancy Sullivan provides an intriguing account of Madang’s legendary ‘cargoist’ Yali Singina with the term ‘cargoism’ being used to refer to all kinds of social, economic and institutional behaviour that result from inflated expectations and a naiveté of market economics.
Leadership is a theme of the next two articles. Br Patrick Howley presents a case study of a Melanesian-oriented process for providing mediation to resolve a dispute between a provincial government and village courts officials. Dr Roger Vallance explores the concept of ‘servant leadership’ that places the emphasis upon Gospel-grounded values. Readers can judge for themselves how they might apply the ideas in the contexts in which they live and work.
Research into the current education reforms continues to be popular. John Imbal explores attitudes towards tourism and hospitality being included in the secondary school curriculum. With 85% of school-leavers needing to generate an income for themselves there is a need for a diversity of vocational subjects to prepare students for this eventuality. Paul Pasingan explores the challenges of distributing reform curriculum materials in a country where service delivery can be a frustrating experience.
The editors hope that you enjoy reading this latest selection of articles as much as we enjoyed receiving them. You are encouraged to read the information for contributors if you would like to publish information about your research. The diversity of acceptable topics characterise the broad interests of Divine Word University.
Pam Norman
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