In 2019, at the age of 24, Raylance Mesa was the youngest winner of the
Westpac Outstanding Woman Award (WOW) in
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...
(PNG) for her work to help her island to adapt to climate change.
Early life
Raylance Mesa comes from the
Tami Islands The Tami Islands are a small island group located 13 km SSE of Finschhafen in the Huon Gulf (see also Solomon Sea). It is part of today's Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea.
Its people were known throughout the Solomon and South Sea islands ...
, which are off
Finschhafen on the
Huon Peninsula in the
Morobe Province
Morobe Province is a province on the northern coast of Papua New Guinea. The provincial capital and largest city is Lae. The province covers 33,705 km2, with a population of 674,810 (2011 census), and since the division of Southern Highlands P ...
of Papua New Guinea. She attained a bachelor's degree with merit in Architecture at the
Papua New Guinea University of Technology (Unitech), in PNG's second city of
Lae
Lae () is the capital of Morobe Province and is the second-largest city in Papua New Guinea. It is located near the delta of the Markham River and at the start of the Highlands Highway, which is the main land transport corridor between the Highl ...
, between 2014 and 2018.
The island that Mesa comes from is sinking as a result of climate change, with differences in sea levels clearly noticeable. She started to work with her community to make changes at the age of 16. Building sea walls to protect buildings at risk of being swamped by the sea by using materials such as dead coral and tree trunks, she also organized fundraising to upgrade the island's school and to buy land on the mainland for occupation by the islanders when the sea does eventually reclaim their island.
Career
Since 2019, Mesa has been employed as a Graduate Architect by ExxonMobil
ExxonMobil Corporation (commonly shortened to Exxon) is an American multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is the largest direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, and was formed on November 30, ...
in PNG's capital, Port Moresby
(; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New Z ...
.
Awards and honours
*2019. Westpac Outstanding Woman for 2019 and Institute of Banking Business Management (IBBM) Young Achiever's Award.[
*2018. United Nations Youth Development Award. Mesa participated at the United Nations Economic and Social Council Youth Forum.][
*2017. Mesa was funded by the ]Kokoda Track Foundation
The Kokoda Track Foundation (KTF) is an international aid organisation working in Papua New Guinea. The foundation was established in 2003 and supports the indigenous people of that country. The Foundation provides education, health, and community ...
's Archer Leaders Development Program. One of 8 final-year students chosen, she benefited from mentoring, work experience placements in New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
, Australia and PNG, and support for tuition fees.
References
External links
Mesa discusses the work that led to her WOW awards
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mesa, Raylance
Year of birth missing (living people)
Papua New Guinean women
Papua New Guinean climate activists
People from Morobe Province
Papua New Guinean environmentalists
Papua New Guinea University of Technology alumni
Living people