Nou Vada and Rex Paura first met in 2000 through Nou’s older sister who was Rex’s classmate at school. The second time they met four years later, Rex was working for the World Bank as a program officer and 13-year-old Nou was in Grade Eight.
At the time, the World Bank was running Tingim Yut Kompetisen, a program that encouraged young Papua New Guineans to submit innovative ideas for potential funding.
Nou and his siblings decided to enter the competition with an internet café ‘start-up’ idea and met with Rex regularly to seek guidance.
