UPNG third-year business student Rose Kambao is the only child in a family which is financially struggling over the years.
This condition motivates her commitment to street vending to support her education and associated costs. She juggles her studies with street vending for a reason- support herself.
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Ms. Kambao comes from Wabag District, Enga Province.
She told PNG SUN: “I used to wake up at 4 a.m. on school days to boil eggs and sell at the Waigani bus-stop. It’s my everyday duty before going to school.”
She added that each day, every 3 hours in the morning (5-8 am), she would sell eggs to earn money.
“It helps me pay for my bus fee, stationery needs, lunch, and clothing for school in a week,” Ms. Kambao said.
She emphasized that if she doesn’t finish selling the eggs, she leaves it back with her friends in the market and attends to lectures.
Ms. Kambao continued that during the semester breaks and Christmas holidays: “It is free time for me, so I used to sell drinks and cold bottle of water to make money for my school fees.
“It is not an easy exercise for me as a female to sell at Waigani-Morata Bus stop. Fighting against the police is a major challenge, but I must not give up,” Ms. Kambao said.
Ms. Kambao emphasized that it is not only earning income from selling eggs and drinks, but she also used to make bilum in her free time at night.
“It’s all adding up to pay my school fees.”
However, Ms. Kambao said, “I had withdrawn from two academic years due to financial issues, but now I’m studying third year under the program of Business Management.”
She said: “My life was not easy from primary education to high school, and I came to the University of Papua New Guinea in 2022 as a single child. I had gone through all the challenges. “
“It comes to a limit where I’d give up, but it’s my desire rooted in my heart that drives me, Ms. Kambao said.
“Being a single child in a family gives me more strength to work harder to achieve more in life. I have to be a well-educated person in life and a valued individual,” she said.
“My moral understanding is that people can’t treat me differently because I’m a single child in a family,” Ms. Kambao added.
Ms. Kambao was expected to graduate this year with a diploma in Business Management, but unfortunately, she was told to overload two missing courses.
She is looking forward to the 2027 academic year to complete her bachelor’s degree.
Moreover, she thanked her cousin Charles Ambi for his tireless support in her education through financial and accommodation assistance.
Ms. Kambao’s lifestyle is guided by the moral principle: “I follow the desire that God inspired me. Therefore, I don’t do things my way but follow God’s will.”
Ms. Kambao is a pathfinder teacher at the 6-Mile SDA church. She grew up in the church.
Ms. Kambao said: “My advice to the young PNG women and girls is that there’s no shortcut destination for women and girls unless you are weak.”
The toughest times are the right time for us to breathe and work patiently behind it, Ms. Kambao said.
“Weak people give up in times of challenges.”