NZAID manager in Papua New Guinea

Tessa Te Mata talks to schoolgirls at Bugandi Secondary School in Lae, Papua New Guinea. Picture / Steven Nowakowski

Name: Tessa Te Mata
Age: "30-something".
Job title: NZAID manager in Papua New Guinea
Working hours: Variable, but never 9 to 5
Pay: Comfortable.

What do you do?

Technically I work for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, but currently I'm seconded to NZAID. It gives about $14.5m annually in aid to Papua New Guinea, and my job is to make sure that money is well spent. I look after projects covering rural economic development, civil society - that means non-governmental organisations - governance, and education. For example, we provide scholarships for about 250 women a year to go to university in PNG, and pay for about another 65 people to study in New Zealand.

Why is development work important?

If you look at the statistics, PNG is lagging behind the rest of the Pacific in developmental terms. Development assistance is about helping people become more economically productive in order to combat the poverty that sees them miss out on access to even the most basic things such as health and education. Plus, development work is practical. It's about making real things happen in people's lives. That's incredibly rewarding.

Why did you choose this sort of work?

I always used to debate politics with my dad when I was little. I did law and international politics at Victoria University, and while I was a student I got to do a month-long internship at the United Nations in New York. That was it - when I realised just how much fun there was to be had working on the international scene, it was always going to be the foreign service or something similar.

What was your first job?

My first job was managing New Zealand's aid programme to Fiji and then I went to our embassy in Jakarta for three and a half years. Dramatic political changes were taking place in Indonesia at the time, so a lot of my work was to do with political and security reporting.

One of my proudest moments was being an international observer in East Timor watching people coming down out of the mountains at dawn to vote for independence.

I have been the Deputy High Commissioner in Port Moresby. When I was back in Wellington for two years I was part of the government's team negotiating free-trade agreements with various countries. That was a steep learning curve - but travelling to Chile and China helped a bit.

What background do you need for this work?

You need to have at least a conjoint or honours degree [in areas such as] law, economics and development studies. But MFAT and NZAID also need people with life skills. It's as much about the attitude and the mindset as qualifications.

You need to be a 'specialist generalist' - able to adapt to what the job requires. The best people enjoy new experiences, going to new places, and can deal with a little bit of hardship.

When you have to doss down in a grimy hotel in the middle of nowhere it's not glamorous. I even got dengue fever. But then, some of the best diving in the world is here, and people are so friendly and treat you like kings.

But isn't PNG quite dangerous for women?

PNG is not for the fainthearted, but I've never had any bad problems - and friends are a pretty good form of defence.

Do you have to speak other languages?

Yes. I speak Tok Pisin [the English creole which is the common language in PNG, a country of more than 800 languages], which I studied before I came here. I also speak Bahasa Indonesia- and I am of Samoan and Cook Is descent, so know enough to get fed when I'm there!

What is the key to doing well in this job?

Networking is important. Relationships are everything.

What's the best thing about this career?

I have job security, but I get to change my job and country every few years. There's a great variety of work you can do.

What will you be doing in five years' time?

In another country running another development programme.