A Manaaki Scholarship recipient from Papua New Guinea (PNG) who waited more than two years to start his degree in New Zealand was well and truly rewarded for his patience; embracing every opportunity presented to him as a Southern Institute of Technology (SIT) student, he thrived in the deep south.
Ishmael Siddy considers himself very fortunate to have lived and studied in Invercargill. “It took a while to get here,” he said; the journey had started more than four years ago when the New Zealand government Manaaki Scholarship was recommended to him, and he applied in 2020. “It was a really good outcome ...” Ishmael was successful. However, it was at the height of Covid, and there were a couple of years waiting until travel restrictions had eased.
From PNG’s capital, Port Moresby, Ishmael had two options for his Bachelor of Information Technology (BIT) - Auckland or Invercargill - and the intrepid student chose Invercargill, arriving in mid-2022 to a southern winter. “The weather was a shocker,” he admits; having come from 36–37 degrees in Port Moresby, to 2-3 degrees in Southland, Ishmael “quite quickly” learned the importance of dressing warmly.
It took the first semester to settle in, acclimatising to the weather and dealing with homesickness. “I now look back on those first six months. I missed home quite a bit; my mum, sister and two nephews.” Ishmael went back home for a visit and the next semester was much improved. “I started meeting people and getting out, making good friends (and) applying myself. I started to enjoy living here.” From that time on, Ishmael took to Invercargill like a duck to water.
Having had the opportunity to visit Auckland, Ishmael prefers the quality of life he found in a smaller city. “I’m quite glad I came [here]. It’s not as bustling as Auckland; it’s way too big a city for me. In Invercargill you can pretty much walk anywhere.”
Through SIT’s extracurricular activities, Ishmael unexpectedly discovered a passion for a sport he’d never tried before – archery. Declaring initially, he didn’t want to go, “My friend put my name down; I had to be dragged to it ... after six weeks I was hooked”.
Ishmael became a fully involved member of the Deep South Archery Club. “I was coordinator for events and the like. I worked towards my Level 1 Instructor’s certificate. I coached. I’m a member of both the NZ Field Archery Association (NZFAA) and Archery New Zealand (ANZ).”
A bonus of competing in archery-related events was visiting other parts of New Zealand. “Joining the club gave me the opportunity to travel to other places,” he said.
In 2024, Ishmael competed in the South Island Master’s Games in Timaru and the New Zealand Master’s Games in Dunedin. He won his age division (gold) and placed third overall (bronze) in the Compound Bow division in Timaru, as well as a gold and silver medal in Dunedin. “I got a couple of medals from both games. It’s been gratifying to come here and have had all these positive experiences.”
And the winning wasn’t limited to his new-found love of archery. Ishmael was very successful with his degree studies. At SIT’s 2024 Award Ceremony, he received the individual award for Top Network Student, and a joint award for Team Apollo, a four-person team who won the IT Top Year 3 project: developing a website and mobile app for archery scoring.
Acknowledging it took a lot of work, Ishmael is particularly proud of it. “...to be awarded this is quite a big achievement,” explaining the app was designed in such a way that “it was scalable to roll out to one club, then include more clubs”. There were further discussions with his club to see how it could be utilised.
Ishmael is returning home to his role in IT for the Health Services Sector Development Project, under PNG Ministry of Health. There’ll be a new project starting in a few months and he’d like to stay with it for the time being and implement his learning there. Ishmael can see his skill set contributing to improving health delivery to the general population; he also hopes to offer guidance to other departments in improving their IT infrastructure.
SIT’s degree course has been just what Ishmael wanted. “I needed to learn more; SIT have aligned with what I wanted to achieve through the programme; it’s met or exceeded what I was aiming for.”
Ishmael came to SIT with the idea he’d be focusing on programming and networking, however, “it’s sort of changed” he said, explaining a Full-stack Developer can build the data base for the website as well as building what the website looks like. “It’s working at the front-end (client side) and back-end (server side) as a web developer. I’ll keep on pursuing this, bringing both together. It’s broadened my horizons quite a bit.”
Being a long way from home, Ishmael acknowledged the support he’d received from Sam Sala, SIT Pasifika Liaison, and Student Support Services, who helped him to settle in Invercargill. He gained a part-time job at weekends through Student Support; they encouraged him to try something new, and he worked as a bar tender at Tillerman’s Vinyl Bar. “I’ve come to really enjoy working there. Getting to know people and making friends has really helped me to flourish here.”
Ishamel’s archery coach and fellow archers surprised him with a trip to Queenstown - something he really wanted to do before leaving - where he enjoyed tourist activities, especially the gondola ride. Another highlight was the SIT Milford Sound trip with other international students; he gave the Mirror Lakes particular mention.
One of Ishmael’s best memories of Invercargill happened not long after he arrived. “I met a couple and was invited to their wedding the same day I met them!” He attended their Fortrose wedding and has never forgotten the occasion or their generosity.
Now he’s returning to PNG, Ishmael is looking forward to continuing with his archery. “I’m addicted to it now. I’m going to carry on with it as soon as I get home.” He’s going to get his two nephews into the sport as well, and he’s already checked out there’s an archery club in Port Moresby.
Although he was excited and happy about returning home to his family, Ishmael admitted “I will miss Invercargill a lot,” and a few convenient things, such as Uber Eats. “I’ll miss Wednesday and Thursday nights at archery, my friends; I’ll miss SIT, it’s been a part of me for three years.”