Posted by Hannah / May 30, 2011
Gina Bishara
Graduate 2008
Current Position:
Freelance Illustrator
Gina always wanted to be an illustrator of children’s books and in 2009 she got her lucky break. With help from the school she made contact with a kiwi couple in Papa New Guinea who were interested in doing something that had never been done before – creating a children’s book series illustrating what life in Papua New Guinea was like.
As well as English, Tok Pisin, and Hiri Motuthere there are over 820 indigenous languages spoken in PNG. Many of the people that live there have never seen a map of their own country before and as there are ‘no roads’ (by western standards) many do not travel. This book series was to be as much for the children as for the adults helping them to understand the country they live in.
Accepting the challenge Gina got to work on the first book and has since completed three books. She was lucky enough to be invited to Papua New Guinea last year and has truly realised what this series means to the people of PNG. Her bubbly, strong and straight forward personality has given her the drive to achieve her goals but she has also realised that this could be the beginning of something even bigger namely an animated series based on the novels.
