Dreams of a Nation: Intro

I recently started a brand new personal adventure: video blogging. This activates a You Tube account that I have had for several years and never used it for anything apart from watching videos. 

My first project is a series of videos called Dreams of a Nation”, a commentary on the Preamble of the Constitution of Papua New Guinea. I have had the burden for a while now to share my thoughts publicly on the importance of the Preamble in the life of PNG. I have said it before in writing that it should be mandatory reading for Papua New Guineans. I have given a few talks on the Preamble already and found that my audience really appreciated it. 

I had not even thought of putting my thoughts out on video until I got here to the UK for my post-graduate studies. Since technology can go places that I cannot go, it makes sense to use it to share my thoughts. 

So here it is! Not the best quality for now but should suffice to communicate my message. 

My first video post is an introductory video. In it I mention why I am doing this particular topic and the main headings of the Preamble that will be discussing. 

Here’s a synopsis of the introduction. 

The Preamble is a fundamental pivotal piece of literature for PNG. It provides our foundational beliefs, goals, and values. As a statement of our vision, it was vital that the Preamble should have been mandatory reading for Papua New Guineans from Day 1. The tragedy is that that has not been so. And now majority of Papua New Guineans have no clue what the Preamble is, let alone its contents.  

As former US Senator Robert Dole said of the Preamble of the US Constitution (Declaration of Independence), “If the lost art of memorization ever returns to our educational system, I recommend that every American student learn by heart the Preamble of the United States Constitution. Its fifty-two words encapsulate all that our government has aspired to accomplish over the past 200 years and hopes to accomplish in the future.”.” (I slightly err in my quoting in the video). 

I believe the same has to be done for the Preamble of our Constitution. It has to become part of our curriculum. Students have to learn it. If not memorize it, then at least appreciate so that they take it to heart. Then they can live according to those ideals in every day life. And if they become national leaders, they can apply it when they devise national policy. 

At the very least, my hope is that this video series will start raising the conversation regarding the place of the Preamble in our every day life. I hope people will get curious about this important document and begin to seek it out.

 

Below is a link to the first video. 

Nuggets From Nehemiah: Vision, Passion, Unity, Wisdom

Nuggets From Nehemiah

By GDW

 

Nehemiah spent record time re-building the crumbled walls of Jerusalem. In 52 days he and his people rebuilt the wall! A feat we could not achieve today even with our superior technology if we tried to build a wall around little Ensisi Valley. How did he do it??

 

1. He prayed to God who answered

2. He united the people with a single vision

3. His passion translated to the people

4. Amazing strategic wisdom (which he constantly prayed for)

 

Everyone got in on the act. Fathers, mothers, sons and daughters, merchants, smiths, clergy. Chapter 3 of Nehemiah describes the people lined up "next to" each other. Yes Chapter 3 is litter with the phrase "next to". People were so convinced of the "national vision", filled with the passion that Nehemiah himself had, and would most likely have developed the prayer life that he himself practised.

 

So with God on their side, a common vision to drive them, and passion that quenched their fears and doubts, the people worked TOGETHER, "UNITED AS ONE NATION". And with the synergy that resulted, such an impossible feat became possible...it became an accomplishment

 

What unites us PNG? Where is the passion of the leaders? Does it translate to the people? Are we really working "next to" each other to effect change?

 

We have become a nation of a thousand DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS, CONFLICTING WISDOMS, and dare I say, WEAK PRAYER life...Resulting in us heading a thousand different directions a thousand miles an hour...and ending up going nowhere.

 

From whence shall the Nehemiahs of our nation come? Who shall unite a divided people? Shall we wait for a common calamity? A common enemy?

 

Or should we look at ourselves, find the enemy within ourselves, defeat it with justice and righteousness and CHANGE for the better?

 

I'm all for THAT!

 

God Bless PNG

Ganjiki

"INSPIRING PASSION"

 

http://ppngtokauttokstret.blogspot.com/ 

KEYS TO SOCIAL CHANGE....the "PROPHETS"

In our last commentary we observed the resemblance of PNG to Israel of ancient. How well we would do if our leaders behaved like Nehemiah and took personal responsibility for the nation. The unique thing about Nehemiah’s leadership was his ability to get the people to believe that they and their own rotten attitude was ultimately responsible for the state of their nation.

I often lament the fact that our leaders are so blinded by the need for material progress that they forget to look back to see where we went wrong...and I mean EXACTLY what went wrong. As far as I can see most of our leaders miss the mark in assessing the real failures of this country.

You see patriots the problem in this country is kinda like this: the TOP LEADERS (politicians) are lost in their leadership. We have a classic case of the Blind Leading the Blind. The people are equally lost or even more so. The catch is that the top leaders will not change unless the people (who elect them) change. But the people will not change automatically. As some of you have rightly pointed out to me, the people will not change spontaneously and without leadership. Change must be led. Despite us saying that all individuals must change; that change must be inspired, provoked and assisted. Question is: BY WHOM?

If our top leaders are lost and we the roots are more lost, who then shall lead such a social change? Here’s the key (as we believe in Patriots PNG): THE MIDDLE LEADERS. What I would nickname the “Prophets”. These are people who have a more or less direct impact on people’s ATTITUDE. These include people in the Clergy, in Arts, in NGOs, in Media, in Education etc.. Basically people not only exposed to these sorts of ideals (as ours) but who believe them and believe in disseminating them to the masses. If we can get enough “Prophets” to ride this wave of thought the domino effect will kick in and great positive change can be achieved in the people. ONLY WHEN THE PEOPLE CHANGE WILL OUR ELECTED LEADERS REFLECT SUCH A CHANGE.

YOU can be in that influential group. Simply give some thought to these ideals. If you see a glimpse of hope in them, make them part of you, grow into them and help others catch these ideals.

HELP PEOPLE WITHIN YOUR SPHERE OF INFLUENCE TO CHANGE THEIR ATTITUDES, TO BE TRUE PATRIOTS, LOVERS OF PNG...TO SIMPLY BE THE CHANGE.

GOD BLESS PNG!

Ganjiki