people

Mark Sinclair has taken up duties as New Zealand’s deputy high commissioner in Honiara, Solomon Islands.

The 29-year-old Aucklander replaces lan Kennedy, who has returned to the foreign ministry in Wellington.

Mr Sinclair joined the minis try in 1977, and served as second secretary in New Zea land’s Tokyo embassy in 1980- 82. Back in Wellington, he assumed responsibility for Asian affairs. At the time of his posting to Honiara, he was an executive assistant to the secre tary of foreign affairs.

George Atkin in Honiara.

Tonga’s tourist newspaper What’s On In Tonga has a new editor, Will Tlolahia, who uses the pen name Takafalai Brown.

Holder of a Bachelor of Arts degree in anthropology and sociology, Will, who was bom in New Zealand of Tongan parents, has also had consider able experience in promotional work. He has managed several rock bands, and, before his return to Tonga, was running a record company and publishing firm.

Two Fiji Indian sisters have gained medical degrees at the Patrice Lumumba Friendship University in Moscow. They are Drs Devi Lata Sharma and Devi Saraswati Sharma.

Former pupils at the Shri Vivekananda High School, Nadi, the girls studied in Mos cow on scholarships awarded in 1976.

They are the daughters of Mr and Mrs R. P. Sharma, of Narewa, Nadi.

The doctor sisters plan to practise medicine in Fiji.

Mary Mills is a remarkably active woman. She completed her Bachelor of Divinity just last year and was ordained as a minister of the Methodist Church, the first woman to hold such a post in Fiji.

The Rev. Miss Mills is 68 years old.

In her busy lifetime she has held a variety of jobs from

youth worker to primary and secondary school teacher.

Christian education worker and librarian, until “retiring” at the age of 60.

“My grandparents and pa rents were strong healthy peo ple and were active into their 705,” she said. “I also decided to do something of value be tween the age of 60 to 70.”

Miss Mills was a lay preacher previously, familiar to English speaking congregations of the Methodist Church in Fiji.

Now she conducts commun ion, baptism, marriages and funeral services, which were not possible as a lay person.

Miss Mills does not feel it is too late to get involved in a new field of work.

“I believe God has His own timing for your life. This was opportune timing and an unex pected opportunity to study and consider the ministry,” she said.

When the door opened for her she went through, and she says that when one person leads the way others will follow.

Now there is a young Fijian woman studying at the Pacific Theological College to become a church minister.

Miss Mills is confident that women will be widely accepted as ministers, and feels it is good for Christian women and the church to have more women in the ministry.

Joe Lynch, Tuvalu’s attorney general until last December, when he returned to Australia, is back in Tuvalu working on the redrafting of the country’s constitution.

Air Pacific captains Kava Kon rote and Sam Nasu have suc cessfully completed a DC-10- 30 ground simulator course at Western Airlines operations centre in Los Angeles, and Captain Konrote has made his first flight (Honolulu-Nadi) in command of a DC-10.

Supervising pilot on the April 12 flight, Captain Ray Gunnell of Western Airlines, said that Captain Konrote did an out standing job. “For his first time on a wide-body aircraft, he flew like a true professional. He is surely a professional aviator, and a credit to Air Pacific,” said Captain Gunnell.

The two Fijian pilots spent six weeks on the ground course and were due to fly on-line on Air Pacific’s three flights each week from Nadi to Honolulu for about two months under the supervision of check and train ing captains before qualifying to command the aircraft.

Air Pacific’s DC-10 has at present a contracted flight crew and the training of Captains

Konrote and Nasu is the first phase in enabling the airline to fly its own DC-10 with its own personnel.

Air Pacific at present provides the cabin crew for the aircraft.

Appointments made this year to the staff of the Suva-based South Pacific Bureau for Eco nomic Co-operation (SPEC) in clude: Peter Moore, research and planning officer. Mr Moore is on leave without pay from the Australian Government. In his new job he will be working in the areas of regional deve lopment planning and aid to South Pacific Forum Island countries. He will also act as liaison officer with the UN’s Economic and Social Council for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), and the Australian Development Assistance Bureau (ADAB).

Paul McDonnell, transport and communications officer. Mr McDonnell recently left the job of secretary of the department of trade, labor and transport in the Cook Islands Government.

In his new post he will be involved in a number of pro jects, including the Pacific Forum Line (PFL), the regional transport survey, uniform mari time standards, and shipping and civil aviation matters in general.

Tinian Reiher, project officer.

Mr Reiher is on leave without pay from the Kiribati Govern ment.

At SPEC he is responsible for a number of projects, including SPEC’s dialogue with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the regional sugar agreement, and quaran tine. He will also be liaison officer with the University of the South Pacific (USP).

President Reagan has desig nated Congressman Robert J.

Lagomarsino to be a member of the Northern Mariana Islands commission on federal laws.

Mr Lagomarsino will succeed the late Representative Phillip Burton, who died last year.

Fiji’s doctor sisters: Dr Devi Lata Sharma (left), and Dr Devi Saraswati Sharma.