picture of the Earth at night and everybody goes ‘oooh’ because it’s all the same. To think that people are different because of the way they were raised or the way they have been told to think, I think that’s unfair. I think if you strip all that away and get to the core of that person, you know we’re human beings. We have very similar needs and desires.” Meanwhile, for Deborah – now training in Hawaii for the wings that will enable her to fly medevac chopper flights back in Lae alongside mainly expat male pilots – it’s saving lives that matters most. “At least one is enough for me,” she said. “That you faced down adversity and negative feelings and people who were trying to say you couldn’t, and did it anyway, Amen sister!”
Marsha shares lessons from her extraordinary career with STEM students at the National Museum in POM
“Here, every day, young men and women will walk past this statue, reminded of what can be achieved through perseverance and dedication. This statue is not just a piece of art; it is a call to action, a reminder that we must continue to strive for excellence and innovation,” she said. For astronaut Marsha – who first visited PNG in 1987 to commemorate Amelia Earhart’s 50th anniversary – the lessons of how she overcame strong resistance in the male-dominated aerospace world are just as relevant today in PNG as they were when she was starting out in America in the 1960s and 70s. During four days of outreach engagements, Marsha spoke to groups at UniTech and Manolos Aviation in Lae, and in Port Moresby at the Hilton Hotel, National Museum and
the University of PNG. She also launched the Academy for Women Entrepreneurs program in Lae that provides training and networking opportunities for female business owners. “Good for you! You stood up and didn’t take no for an answer,” she enthusiastically told the women, who came from a diverse range of backgrounds. “That you faced down adversity and negative feelings and people who were trying to say you couldn’t, and did it anyway, Amen sister!” Asked what kind of reactions she generally got from her PNG audiences, Marsha smiled and said it was the same as audiences in India, or wherever she spoke, all over the world. “They ask the same questions, they laugh at the same parts of the presentation. It changes as I do it but it’s pretty much the same story, they respond the same way,” she said. “I show a
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Marsha checks out the cockpit of one of the helicopters at Manolos Aviation’s hangar in Lae
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