AusAID to help Moukele village

MOUKELE villagers from Fishermen Island, 15 kilometers off the coast of the Moresby South electorate, are the city’s leading suppliers of fresh fish.

These hardy fishermen and women have the doubly grueling task of catching fish by night and making daily boat rides to the city at break of dawn, to sell their catch at Koki market.

It’s a tough life, with many dangers, made even tougher by the absence of any health care facility on the island. Currently, residents have to seek health services on the mainland and many seriously ill patients, and women in labour, have died on the long journey.

Their prayers for a health care facility has been answered; the Australian Government has approved K64,351 on November 30, 2012 for the Moukele Community Development Committee (MDC) to construct an aid-post on Fisherman Island. The funding is made available through the Strongim Pipol Strongim Nesen Program small grants scheme.

The committee’s chairman Keimelo Gimapau thanked AusAID and the people of Australia for the gift, describing it as “a blessing indeed”. 

He said: “An aidpost on the Island will make our lives a lot better, there are some non-government organisations and self-help groups already in our communities but usually they lack money and resources. 

The help of a powerful donor like AusAID will make all the difference, particularly for the very young, old, disabled and sick.’’

The MDC were amongst five communities in the National Capital District to benefit from a total AusAID gift of K363,739 for community development projects. Other recipients were:

• The Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) will receive K76,376 to bring 20 female and seven male adult literacy trainers from around the country to review the literacy skills training manual, which will be used to teach more than 3000 people;
• The Cheshire Disability Services of Papua New Guinea will receive K72,618 to train 120 community-based rehabilitation volunteers, community leaders and partners to advocate for the rights of people living with disabilities in Port Moresby and neighbouring villages. 

• University of Papua New Guinea will receive K70,393 to allow art students studying at the university to share their education by teaching 10 youths from the Morata Settlement and 30 secondary school students to use basic drama, photography, poetry, music and dance to reach out to other young people in schools and settlements. This peer-group mentoring will raise awareness of issues which affect young people, such as safe sex and gender equality; 

• The Meduna Koita Community in the Moresby South Electorate will receive K80,000 for a water supply project that will make life much easier for the community’s 171 residents who will no longer have to cart water from the nearest source, five kilometres uphill at Mahuru village.

SPSN Program Director Jeremy Syme said: “AusAID through the SPSN Program is committed to improving lives for communities across Papua New Guinea, but communities must be equally determined to ensure that the projects are delivering. 

These gifts are from the people of Australia to the people of Papua New Guinea and are gifts that come with expectations - expectations that you will spend the money wisely, appropriately and most importantly for the purpose you have requested. 

It’s also vital that it benefits as many people as proposed and that you find ways to sustain it and let it grow.’’