Giving Back to the Track
Adventure Kokoda is committed to honouring the legacy of Kokoda by supporting local village communities, local PNG charities and disadvantaged young Australians.
In 2008 we initiated the following programs to continue our commitment of 'giving back to the track':
Kokoda Bursary Program
This program has been established in partnership with the Port Moresby Grammar School. The school's philosophy is based on providing educational opportunities to bright young PNG students who have potential but do not have the means to attend a school of this nature. A Kokoda Bursary, which is named after trekkers who support the program, will pay the school fees for a selected student for one year. Progressive reports on the student are provided to the sponsor at the end of each term.
Bring-a-Book Campaign
Trekkers are invited to bring a book from a list provided by the Port Moresby Grammar School. In 2008 our
trekkers donated 1,369 books to the school library. This has allowed Port Moresby Grammar to donate their older books to Ioawari High School for Koiari students on the Sogeri Plateau.
In addition to this our trekkers donated the following items to the school in 2008:
Click here to read the Letter of Appreciation from the Port Moresby Grammar School to Adventure Kokoda.
Friends Foundation
Tessie Soi started the Friends’ Foundation, an organization dedicated to helping prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV and also to supporting mothers and children who are already living with the virus.
The Friends’ Foundation enrols HIV-positive mothers – especially those who tested positive when already pregnant – in the programme for prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) at Port Moresby Hospital.
“The Friends’ Foundation’s main focus is to look after the mothers once they are diagnosed [HIV-positive] and to help them through delivery and then take them home,” explains Ms. Soi. “We follow up on the children through their first 18 months.”
She knows well what a serious issue mother-to-child prevention is. To date she has buried 80 children who died from the virus. Tessie also collects unclaimed babies from the morgue at the Port Moresby Hospital, wraps them in white linen, places fresh flowers in their small coffin and provides them with a Christian burial.
In 2008 Adventure Kokoda donated two new computers and printers and $1,100 in cash to help Tessie. We will continue to support Tessie and her Friends Foundtion in 2009. Picture shows Trek Leader, John Nalder, presenting a cheque to Tessie on behalf of Adventure Kokoda.
Buk Bilong Pikinnini Program
Buk Bilong Pikinin is an independent charity based in Port Moresby. The charity provides food and books to sick kids in the TB and malnutrition children’s ward at the Port Moresby General Hospital.
The Buk Bilong Pikinini program was established by Anne-Sophie Hermann, the wife of the Australian High Commissioner to PNG, His Excellency Mr Chris Moraitis, and Anna Mukerjee, the wife of UNICEF Office Representative in PNG, Mr Hamish Young. They have been joined by Margaret Tefuarani, a nurse at Port Moresby General Hospital and Caroline Podd, a trained librarian from Australia.
Around 100 unwell children can be found on the tuberculosis and malnutrition ward on any given day and most of them have little to do. With the opening of the new children’s library, the youngsters will be able to borrow books every morning and also enjoy a daily “story-time” with the library coordinator.
The project aims to teach children about the culture of book borrowing and encourage parents to spend more time reading with their sons and daughters. It also hopes to increase literacy rates in Papua New Guinea through the creation of small libraries in children’s hospital wards, orphanages and other places of need.
Buk Bilong Pikinini opened its second children’s library at the Red Cross Special Education and Resource Centre at Holola in September last year and plans to open a third children’s library at the Lawes Road clinic this year.
Adventure Kokoda donated $1,130 to the program in 2008 and will continue to support the program in 2009.
Click here to read the Buk Bilong Pikinini Newsletter.
Adventure Kokoda 'Yumi Helpim Pikinnini' Program:
Under this program each of our trek groups are assigned to a particular village along the track. Our trekkers are invited to bring one or two small items with them from Australia. This includes one or more of the following: a grade 3 reading book; a set of crayons; a mouth organ or flute; a football or tennis ball; a couple of pencils; a even a packet of Panadol/bandaids.
Adventure Kokoda provides backpack full of school supplies to accompany each of our trek groups. These supplies will be donated to the respective villages at a small 'sing-sing' ceremony when the group arrives.
Little things make a big difference in Papua New Guinea - schools along the Kokoda Trail receive more supplies through this program than they do from their own provincial government.
Since Adventure Kokoda commenced trekking across Kokoda in 1991 we have:
. Raised approximately $175,000 to complete a strategic plan for the Kokoda Track Foundation.
. Established a 'Kokoda Bursary Program' at the Port Moresby Grammar School to provide scholarships for need young PNG students.
. Established a ‘Fuzzy Wuzzy Angel Scholarship Program in partnership with the PNG Kokoda Track Authority for 50 village students across the track. The scholarship pays boarding fees for students at Sogeri, Iaowari and Popondetta High Schools.
. Donated school supplies and sporting gear to village schools along the Kokoda Trail each year.
. Donated approximately $30,0oo in medical supplies to the Kokoda Hospital and the Sogeri Health Centre in 2008.
. Raised $4,500 for an emergency operation in a Port Moresby Private Hospital for a young boy from Hoi Village.
. Raised $500,000 partnership with the RSL for emergency relief during the devastating drought in PNG in 1996.
. Raised $50,000 for Legacy during two subsidized treks in 2005 and 2006
. Raised $10,000 by sponsoring an entrant in the ‘RSL Girl-in-a-Million Quest’ to trek Kokoda. In 2006.
Sponsored a trek for the Westmead Children’s Hospital in 2006.
. Sponsored disadvantaged young people from Youth Insearch, Father Chris Riley's Youth Off The Streets and Camp Dare across the track.
Donated treks for auction for the following organisations:
• Legacy
. RSL Girl-in-a-Million Quest
.
The Kokoda Track Foundation
• The Humpty Dumpty Foundation
• The Royal Blind Society
• The Diabetes Foundation
• Foodbank in Mt Gambier
• Lions International