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The Rev Pos Konea

Readers have enquired about the welfare of
the Rev Pos Konea whose story featured in
the last edition of Common Theology (Vol 2. no.10).

He is currently caring for ten children, four of his own and six of them orphans of the AIDS epidemic in PNG. His wife, Miriam, travels the country conducting AIDS education programmes.
Pos Konea is currently building a house for his extended family.

Now the Brisbane College of Theology (BCT) is defunct it is impossible to find anyone to take an interest in his case and go on the record in an attempt to deal with the academic injustice suffered by this Uniting Church theological student.
He spend A$50,000 over a period of four years(his figures) as a student with BCT. As a result of inadequate supervision – a fact which is welldocumented – his thesis was failed and he was given no opportunity to revise it.
Because he did not gain his MA he could not take up the job which was waiting for him at a PNG bible college.
Now, with his career stifled, he has joined the growing legion of overseas students who are “disappointed” with their treatment in Australia.
Not a good witness in the Pacific Rim and the wider world.

A Letter to the Editor
A recent issue of yours described the extraordinary treatment of a PNG Highland student at Brisbane’s Anglican Theological College, St Francis’. I worked for years in PNG and, reading your account, could see clearly that the college staff had absolutely no clues about dealing with someone from another culture with English as a second language, and also seemed to lack ordinary human sensitivity to this Highlander.
I was going to write to the College, but as they were in a bit of a crisis, and were getting a new principal, I did not. I hope your magazine’s publicity caused some justice for the man.
The Rev Theo Woods
Carina Qld