In the lush highlands of Kerowagi in Simbu province, Papua New Guinea, where the mist clings to the jagged mountain peaks like a soft, grey blanket, Walai Kawale gazed out of his modest home. With a freshly minted degree clutched in his hand, he had anticipated a swift transition from student life to professional achievement. But as the calendar pages turned, a year slipped by, a year of wandering through a world that seemed to have turned its back on him.

Walai had completed studying Mineral Processing Engineering for four years and graduated with a degree in that field in 2022 but struggled to find a job.

He wasted the whole of 2023 at home seeing himself as a liability to his parents and siblings. He grew tired of getting up every morning and staring at the fog and mist covered mountains towering over Kerowagi.

Every morning, these peaks seemed to whisper hopes, urging him not to give up. He was a Simbu man and Simbus are known in Papua New Guinea as people with extra body senses and ever ready vocabularies that break through certain barriers in life to get what they want. They widely branded themselves as Simbu Specials (SS). But this time all those fancy slang words did not work for Walai. Sometimes he just wanted to scream into the mountains behind his home and ask himself if he is really from Simbu.

However, the path to securing a job had not unfolded as he had hoped. The job rejections chipped away at his confidence, and each passing day in Kerowagi felt heavier, laden with the weight of unfulfilled expectations and the fear of being left behind.

“Life felt doomed,” he recalled, his voice tinged with a mix of relief and nostalgia. “I was ready to contribute, to make a difference, but every door I knocked on stayed firmly shut. I was losing hope.”

But then, in the midst of that bleakness around October 2023, a phone call came, the one would change everything.

It was a new number not registered in his mobile phone contact list and he refused to answer at first. But the number didn’t stop on the first call. It was called again and this time Walai answered. It was Mr Jeffers Heptol of Ramu NiCo in Madang.

Walai felt as if Heaven just left its position and landed on Kerowagi to welcome him home.

It was an invitation to join the Ramu NiCo’s Graduate Development Scheme(GDS) program, a renowned initiative aimed at nurturing fresh talent in the mining and environmental fields.

With trembling hands, and voice shaky with excitement he answered the call, his heart racing at the prospect of a new beginning.

“That moment was surreal,” he said, his eyes sparkling with renewed enthusiasm. “It was as if I had been pulled from darkness into light.”

Walai embraced the opportunity with fervour.

Fast forward 2023 and 2nd June 2024 arrived. Walai caught the first PMV out of Simbu. With Ramu NiCo on his mind, the long highway with bumps and rugged sections of the highway did not matter to him. The distance shortened fast.

Walai found himself standing in front of the blue gate with the tall glass empire behind staring at him with new promises. On the side, a slogan caught his eyes, One Ramu NiCo, One Community. He felt at peace and thanked God quietly. That was the right place for him. The company slogan said it all.

A small crowd started to gather and Walai found himself among other people who were in the same program as him.

In the next few days, Walai and his colleagues signed their contracts, and travelled to their respective sites to begin the training. It was a two year rotational training.

Walai expressed gratitude towards Ramu NiCo for giving him the opportunity to train, at the same time employed in a space where the other companies he applied turned him down.
Working in Ramu NiCo’s Basamuk CCD Plant was hands -on experience for him.

He was actually applying the theories he learnt from the university.

Walai thanked the government of Papua New Guinea and China for allowing Ramu NiCo to operate today, because it is actually training the human resources who would contribute to the future development of this country (PNG).

“A well trained human resource is the backbone of a strong developing nation and Ramu NiCo is actually doing this training to contribute to the future development of Papua New Guinea,” Walai said.

The Ramu NiCo program was not just a job for him, it was a God given chance to immerse himself in the very essence of what he had studied and dreamed about.

Walai said he owes Ramu NiCo because the moment that he lost his brand Simbu Special, Ramu NiCo made him special.