Manaaki scholars celebrate achievements and look to make an impact back home

Jasmine says mental health isn’t spoken about much back home in Papua New Guinea, and she hopes her degree will help her support young people facing challenges.

“I have a desire to help people. I chose to study psychology because I want to get into mental health and help young people back home in Papua New Guinea deal with whatever issues they have,” she says.

“It’s not a very common topic to talk about, so going back there I just want to reach out to young people and help them.”

Jasmine is one of 22 scholars from 11 countries who were celebrated at the Manaaki New Zealand Scholarship completion ceremony on Thursday 22 October at The Refectory on the Manawatū campus. Between them, the scholars completed one PhD, nine master’s degrees, eight bachelor’s degrees and four postgraduate diplomas.

The scholars span a range of fields, from aviation management and psychology to emergency management, sustainable development and food safety. Their studies reflect the diverse ways in which the Manaaki New Zealand Scholarship Programme supports people to contribute to the development and wellbeing of their communities.

Russell Lowane from Vanuatu completed a Bachelor of Aviation Management and aims to use his new knowledge to support his country’s national airline.

“I always wanted to do aviation or something to do with the airport, something in that industry. It was between here and Australia and then I got this scholarship which led me here,” he says.

“I hope to help my country and its airline and bring it back up with my new knowledge.”

Lakhin Khen from Cambodia studied a Master of Emergency Management. His study built on four years of experience working in the aviation sector, where he helped ensure accurate airline information was available to support safety.

With Cambodia often experiencing storms and other natural hazards, Lakhin saw an opportunity to combine his aviation experience with emergency and disaster management.

“When you talk about aviation, not many people know about it, but it’s one of the sectors that focuses mainly on safety. Besides that, we also have a lot of storms that happen, so combining customer safety and the aviation sector was really important to me in what I studied,” he says.

During his time in New Zealand, Lakhin worked and studied closely with the Joint Centre for Disaster Research in Wellington, an experience that helped him feel supported as he pursued his goals.

“I had a really supportive environment. They were happy to help me achieve what I wanted to do,” he says.

Returning to Cambodia, he wants to apply his new skills and help strengthen knowledge of disaster and emergency management.

“I hope to bring more knowledge regarding disaster and emergency management into my country. I hope there will be more students that come to New Zealand, because it’s one of the best countries that you can learn from,” he says.

Fellow Cambodian scholar Channthavy Huot completed a Master of Food Safety and Quality, building on her previous experience working in government on food safety.

She hopes to use her studies to help strengthen food safety regulations and improve how they are implemented in Cambodia.

“Before coming to New Zealand, I worked for the government, related to food safety. I want to strengthen the regulations and see how enforcement is effective and can be applied to anyone in my country,” she says.

Channthavy will be returning home in December and plans to put her new knowledge into practice in her workplace.

Maria Victoria Frascheri from Argentina completed a Master of Sustainable Development Goals (Climate Action). With a background in environmental engineering, she wanted to build on her technical knowledge by better understanding the social dimensions of sustainability.

“My background is in environmental engineering. It’s an interesting bachelor to have because it’s engineering, so it’s very structured and about numbers, but the fact that it’s environmental means it also has this social part to it,” she says.

Maria chose her master’s degree to deepen her understanding of how sustainability affects people and communities, alongside its economic and environmental dimensions.

“I had a strong foundation in economy and environment but not so much in what it means to people, so I thought that maybe to improve my knowledge in that area I could get a Master of Sustainable Development Goals so I could strengthen the social part to it and have a more complete knowledge of the area and apply my knowledge in sustainability better.”

Maria says the friendships she has made across cultures have been among the most meaningful parts of her experience in New Zealand.

“I would say that’s something that I’m taking from New Zealand; the diversity and how inclusive it is and how people from different areas can work together.”

The Manaaki New Zealand Scholarships are managed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) and administered by Education New Zealand (ENZ) on behalf of MFAT. The programme supports scholars to gain a globally recognised education and develop the knowledge and skills to contribute to prosperity, security and sustainable growth in their home countries.

Through their studies and experiences, scholars also build lifelong connections with one another and with New Zealand, creating opportunities for continued collaboration and cultural exchange long after graduation.

The programme aims to enhance the mana of partner countries and New Zealand through manaakitanga: the act of hosting, supporting and honouring Manaaki scholars.