Porpor Mothers Become More Productive

Mary and Angela at the water tank near their houses.

The burden of walking long distances in search of clean drinking water is a thing of the past for Porpor Villagers from Selau District in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville.
According to Villager Mary Topoi, she now has clean drinking water right at her doorstep and more time to do other house hold chores as compared to previous years.She says the water catchment project has enabled ordinary villagers to have more time to invest in other responsibilities resulting in productivity for their individual families and village as a whole.Another Villager, Angela Bialik says she and her family used to have bad skin diseases as a result of tainted water, however with the introduction of the water catchment that has greatly changed.“I no longer contract skin rashes or itchiness. My Children are healthy and I now use water without fear of contracting any skin diseases,” she said.Mrs. Bialik says the Water Catchment Project has improved their lifestyle and she would like to see such positive change happen in all neighbouring villages.“My children are more healthy, always attend school and generally life is much better. I now have more time to do other stuff, such as spending time with my children and also attending community meetings,” she said.She says the rate of water related illnesses have decreased among villagers, especially children which is a good sign.Apart from the funding of the five water catchments at Porpor Village there were also two toilets constructed on Porpor Primary School.She commended the Australian Government for the much needed assistance and said it is now up to the local villagers to be responsible, take ownership and use their own initiatives to add more tanks to expand the project so other villagers can also benefit.The Porpor Water Catchment Project was funded by the Australian Government through the Strongim Pipol Strongim Nesen Program at a total cost of K87,997.40.

Life is Much More Easy

Children from Kukuri Village enjoying water from one of the tanks.

Lucy Ritia, like all mothers with an unconditional love, struggles for the health and wellbeing of her three disabled adult children every day.
Lucy from Kukuri Village, Selau District in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville says before they got assistance her main daily chore was to fetch clean drinking water for her family.“Being a mother to three disabled adults is a daunting and grim task, especially when there is no male figure around to help with the hard or heavy work. I never gave up on my children, I know it is my responsibility as their mother to provide for them clean water every day and that is what I do,” she said.She says she walks long distances to fetch clean water for drinking and most of her time is taken up transporting water back and forth to their house.“All my kids are disable and back then it was difficult to access clean water. I used to fear for the health of my children that’s why I sacrifice every day to walk long distances just to find clean water,” she said.Lucy says she is grateful for the assistance of the Australian Government with the installation of the water tanks, which now eases her daily burden.“My three children are now much healthier, we have clean water for cooking and washing every day,” she said.Chairman of the Kukuri Community Group, Andrew Kamete says they fetch water from bore holes and every day was a tussle to find fresh drinking water, especially when it rains or when salt water reaches the bore holes.He said the Community agreed to specifically install a water tank at Lucy’s residence so that she and her family can have easy access clean water.“I am happy to see the change in Lucy’s family and I want that for all the people in my community,” Mr. Kamete said.
He adds that more than 400 people in the Kukuri Community now benefit from the 18 water tanks installed.The Kukuri Water and Sanitation Project was launched in March 2016 and is funded by the Australian Government through the Strongim Pipol Strongim Nesen Program a total cost of K81,433.00.

Mothers Become Self Reliant

“I don’t buy dish washing paste or oil from the shops anymore since we were taught how to make them by the Eastern Highlands Family Voice (EHFV),” said Aye Gane.
Mrs. Gane is a registered member of the Gohozuho Mother’s Association in the Ifiufa/Mimanalo Local Level Government in Goroka District, E

Participants of the Life Skills Training

astern Highlands Province.
She says she has all the reason to smile after successfully completing a week’s training conducted by Eastern Highlands Family Voice.
“The Life Skills training has really changed my life. I can now sew, bake and cook a variety of dishes. I am now using my skills to earn an income for my family, even my husband is very impressed. I am now empowered to contribute to the wellbeing of my family,” she said.
She said she now makes Sweet Irian Jaya Biscuits and Kaukau (Sweet Potato) Baskets to sell at their local market for an income and is enjoying every minute of it.
EHFV Women’s Project Officer, Agatha Omenefa said upon a request from the Gohozuho Mother’s Association EHFV organised a one week Life Skills Training teaching the mothers how to bake, cook, sew, make drapery and do flower arrangements amongst others.
She said EHFV has 6 pilot projects in Liorofa, Mohouveto, Upegu, Kaiufa, Yabiufa and Masumave in the Ungai/Bena District which also looks at the Life Skills Training.
She adds that the Gohozuho Women’s Association is not on the list of pilot projects but because of the immense interest shown by the women EHFV conducted the Life Skills Training with them.
“The training has helped them to realise their potential in their community. Apart from doing their daily chores such as gardening, they now can contribute financially and socially towards the development of the community,” she said.
Chairman of the Association, Kassen Nahe said the mothers are eager to learn and try out new things which in the long run will benefit them and their community.
He said the Association is keen on promoting the issue of gender equality and, therefore it encourages men and women in their community to work side by side.
Mr. Nahe said they will continue to seek avenues for such trainings to better equip and empower the mothers in the association.
The Eastern Highlands Family Voice is a Key Partner of the Strongim Pipol Strongim Nesen (SPSN) Program and is funded by the Australian Government at a total cost of K1,356,227.00.

Aviamp Mothers See Change

A member of the group with freshly harvested Mandarins.

“Even though we live on the highway, basic services have passed us by, however since the introduction of this project it has really helped the women a lot financially and has empowered them in the community,” Cecelia Kuman said.
Mrs. Kuman, who is the President of the Aviamp 2 Women’s Group in the South Waghi Anglimp District in Jiwaka Province, said this when explaining the changes seen in her community since the commencement of the ‘Agriculture Farming and Basic Book Keeping Training’ project.
She adds that the group underwent trainings conducted by the Fresh Produce Development Authority such as Vegetable Production and Financial Literacy which enabled them to have high quality crops to sell and at the same time know how to manage their finances.
“The training has helped us tremendously to achieve good quality crops when we plant and also we can now save and budget our money,” she said.
The ‘Agriculture Farming and Basic Book Keeping Training’ project is funded by the Australian Government through the Strongim Pipol Strongim Nesen Program at a total cost of K73,874.22.
Ellis Pora who is a member of the Women’s Group says since she joined she is now able to help her husband build a new semi-permanent house in the village, buy new items for her household and also pay for her children’s school fees.
She says from the income she gets in selling her vegetables and the skills she gained from the different trainings, she is now economically empowered to contribute effectively within her family and community as a whole.
“Laif bilong mi na ol femili bilong igat bikpela senis tru taim dispela projek ikam insait long ples, mi save ting bai mi ino inap lukim kain senis tasol nau mi lukim na mi hamamas nogut tru (My life and my family’s has drastically changed since the project started in the village, I thought I would never see such change but now I can see the difference and I am very happy.),” she said.
Mrs. Pora is one of more than 300 members whose lifestyles have changed in terms of time management, being self-reliant and more importantly contributing to the development of the community one way or another through this project.
Mrs. Kuman adds that a lot of women who have children out of wedlock, who have been deserted by their husbands, people living with disability and HIV/AIDS are also part of the group and it is very encouraging to see them take ownership of the project.
“We also invite our husbands and male youths in the community to take ownership of the project and so far they have shown tremendous interest,” she said.
She added that when the group has meetings they use this as an avenue to do awareness on social issues such as Child Protection, Domestic/Sexual Violence and HIV/AIDS.
Mrs. Kuman said the project is running smoothly with an increase in the production of fresh produce associated with the recent rains.

I Want to Be a Lawyer.

“Mi igat bikpela bilip olsem sapos mi igat sans long pinisim skul bilong mi long bihain taim, mi bai kamap wanpela Lawyer man (I have this belief that if I have the opportunity to complete my education, later on in life I will become a Lawyer) ,” said Lazarus Kepak.
18 year old Lazarus from Yokor Village in Wabag District, Enga Province was born with low vision, which is an inability to see clearly.
He never attended any formal education in his entire life until 2 years ago when he registered at the Special Education Resource Centre (SERC) under Callan Service National Unit (CSNU) in Enga Province.
The Special Education Resource Centre supports children and yo

Koronis (L) and Lazarus (R) at SERC, Enga Province.

uths to live a normal life just like any normal citizen and sustain their livelihood through school, sports, health and livelihood programs.
It is understood that once people living with disabilities successfully attend a SERC they are then guided and integrated into the mainstream education.
The SERC also conducts awareness and trainings for Teachers in the mainstream education system on the integration of people with special needs.
Lazarus said he used to envy his brothers and friends in the village who attended formal education ever since he was a small boy and to have this opportunity is a great stepping stone in his life.
Lazarus says he can now tell the difference between numbers from 0 to 100 and letters of the Alphabet from A to Z.
“Mi laik toktok hamamas long ol tisa bilong mi long SERC long gutpela wok ol imekim long halivim ol kain lain olsem mi yet long kisim save (I want to say thankyou to the SERC Teachers for the great work they do in helping people like me to gain education),” he said.
This is the same story for 19 year old Koronis Yapis from Sangurap Village in Wabag District.
He too was born with low vision and never attended any formal education until 3 years ago when he registered with SERC.
He says he is very happy to be learning and if all goes well he would like to be integrated into the mainstream education system.
According to the Program Coordinator, Paul Ira, the SERC in Enga has 523 registered clients with 15 different activities under the Inclusive Education and Community Based Rehabilitation Program which includes Community Awareness, Teacher Awareness and Disability Sports amongst others.
“Many parents of our clients did not know that there was a special school for people living with disabilities, however after the centre opened and with the continuous awareness, more parents have brought in their children to be registered,” he said.
He said since the establishment of the centre there has been a positive impact, however the main challenge is the accessibility to clients in remote areas in terms of transportation and the need for a regular flow of assistive devices with the increasing number of clients who come in to register.
He said the assistive devices are sent to SERCs in each province and then distributed amongst the clients under a project partnership between the PNG Assembly of Disabled Persons, Motivation Australia and the Australian Government in collaboration with the Departments of Health and Community Development and Religion.
The SERC in Enga is one of 19 other SERCs in PNG under Callan Service National Unit funded by the Australian Government through the Strongim Pipol Strongim Nesen Program at a total cost of K1,399,317.