Nine Papua New Guinean and Australian women are trekking the Kokoda track in September and October 2018 in an effort to raise funds for Femili PNG.
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 are completing 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 [Pacific Women] 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 K 80,000.
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Also read the article in the Canberra Times here and listen to a radio interview with Femili PNG’s Development Manager here. To support the team donate online here or make a deposit in the Femili PNG bank account.