Women trek Kokoda for Femili PNG

Nine Papua New Guinean and Australian women trekked the Kokoda Trail in September and October 2018 in an effort to raise funds for Femili PNG.

Femili PNG is a PNG non-government organisation which helps survivors of family and sexual violence to access the services they need.

The first team of seven completed the gruelling 96 kilometre trek over 9 days from 4 to 12 September 2018. They then travelled to Lae to visit the Femili PNG case management centre which supports women, children and men who are survivors of intimate partner violence, sexual assault and child abuse.

The second team of two women were on the track and completed the walk from 1 to 8 October 2018.

The team has been supported by many high-profile Australians, with donations coming in from 2015 Australian of the Year Rosie Batty and former Ambassador for Women and Girls Natasha Stott Despoja.

In PNG, Trukai Industries Ltd supported the team by donating water bottles and t-shirts. Trukai has been supporting Femili PNG for the past three years by donating rice to support women and children in Lae who have fled violent situations.

Femili PNG is supported by the Australian government in partnership with the Government of Papua New Guinea as part of the Pacific Women Shaping Pacific Development program.

Femili PNG’s Lae Operations Director, Denga Ilave, said: “Femili PNG’s success is due to the partnership between Australians and Papua New Guineans. It’s wonderful to see these nine women from the two countries come together to raise funds so that Femili PNG can assist more survivors.”

The #Trek2Protect2018 team members come from Port Moresby, Melbourne, Ballarat, Sydney and Canberra. So far they have collectively raised over PGK80,000.

To donate visit femili-png-trek-to-protect-kokoda-2018.raisely.com or make a deposit into this account: Name - Femili PNG Incorporated, Branch - ANZ Lae Top Town, BSB – 018890, Account No – 15262993.

Picture: The #Trek2Protect2018 team included Anna Kirk (Sydney), Mehere Maladina (Sydney), Lillian Ipu (Port Moresby), Lindy Kanan (Canberra), Lisa Martin (Ballarat), Theresa Reu (Port Moresby) and Kene Kala (Melbourne)

Author: 
Press release