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Join us in honouring our midwives and supporting our Village Birth Attendants on Kiriwina.

During International Midwifery Week 2025, we have a unique opportunity to pay tribute to the incredible midwives and Village Birth Attendants dedicated to nurturing families on Kiriwina. These remarkable individuals are essential in ensuring safe and compassionate care for mothers and newborns during life’s most transformative moments.

At our Caring for Kiriwina Charity, we recognise the indispensable role that midwives and Village Birth Attendants play in building healthier communities. This week, we invite you to unite with us in celebrating their dedication and resilience, as they face daily challenges to provide safe and culturally respectful care.

Here’s How You Can Help:

Support the Training and Recruitment of Local Midwives:

Your donation can directly impact the health of our communities by funding certified midwife positions throughout Kiriwina. These essential roles will empower our Village Birth Attendants with the training and resources they need to provide quality care.

Every contribution—big or small—makes a meaningful difference. Together, we can ensure that every mother receives the care she deserves, promoting a healthier future for our families.

Let’s stand together to honour these local heroes and support their invaluable work in maternal and newborn health.

Thank you for your unwavering support and for joining us in celebrating International Midwifery Week 2025! 

*#KiriwinaCharity #InternationalMidwiferyWeek #SupportMidwives #caringforkiriwina #MBPHA #LosuiaHealthCentre

Thank you, Carnival Cruises, our generous donors, tireless volunteers, and, let’s not forget, the weather gods for making this morning’s donation delivery to Kiriwina a resounding success!

Our brave band of Village Birth Attendants (VBAs) embarked on quite the epic trek yesterday, journeying to the other side of the island to collect these donations. Pictured are the incredible Carnival staff, some wonderful familiar faces we met on our last voyage, with head VBAS: Dulcie Nelson, Dorcas Nusabu, and Bessie Simai. We’re also thrilled to introduce our new Cruise Ship Dispatching Officer, Nason Mark! The other two VBAs who joined this heroic expedition managed to dodge the photo op.

A massive thank you to Carnival Cruises, and a special shoutout to Simone and Lynne for guiding us through the transition from P&O, and to Bev, who kept half of these donations meant for the February delivery stored until they could leave on this cruise. Plus, kudos to the ship staff who safeguarded our precious cargo on its journey.

On a bittersweet note, we can’t help but wonder what could have been if Cyclone Alfred hadn’t crashed our last delivery party. It’s fantastic that they eventually got there; what an adventure!!!

#CarnivalCruises, #knittingforacause #Kiriwina #babyknits #caringforkiriwina #vbabirthingkits #team, #management, #people, #caringforkiriwina, #cleanwater, #villagelife, #villagebirthattendants, #kiriwina, #trobriandislands, #papuanewguinea, #mothers, #mothersandbabies, #babies, #safebirths, #covid, #villagebirthattendants, #midwives, #belroseknitters, #education, #schools, #health, #charity, #willandravillage, #belrosecountryclub

It is with profound sadness that we share the news of the passing of our beloved team member, Bokawau. As the Village Birth Attendant Coordinator for Caring for Kiriwina, she was an irreplaceable part of our community. Bokawau dedicated her life to supporting the Village Birth Attendants, ensuring that mothers on Kiriwina had access to the care they needed—whether at the Losuia Health Centre or in the remotest villages.

Her unwavering commitment included conducting mobile clinics, training courses, and organising our annual training sessions. She meticulously maintained the records of births and diligently communicated vital information to the Health Centre. Additionally, as our representative on the island, she managed and fairly distributed donated goods, providing invaluable monthly progress reports.

Bokawau’s impact on our community cannot be overstated, and her absence is deeply felt by all who knew her. In her honour, we are launching a campaign to recruit and train the next generation of staff to continue the incredible work she started.

Part of Bokawau’s traditional mourning ceremonies on the Island yesterday.

We are thrilled to announce preparations for our next CFK Village Birth Attendant training event are starting to be made, set to take place around April next year! A dedicated group of our head VBAS and Australian Midwife educators will be traveling to Alotau to provide this much-needed training for our wonderful Kiriwinan VBA community. Stay tuned for more updates as we work towards enhancing maternal and child health on Kiriwina.

Photo: Midwife educator extraordinaire Shea Caplice and co-directors of CFK, Nessie and Jodi (Jacqui Andrews was sadly missing from the photo).

#CFKVillage #BirthAttendantTraining #MaternalHealth #Alotau #CommunityCare #VBAS #MidwiferyEducators

We extend our sincere gratitude to Carnival Cruises Australia for their unwavering support of P&O Cruises’ charity initiatives. The Carnival Cruises Corporation is playing a crucial role in aiding our efforts to deliver essential resources to the Island. They are currently organising the pickup of donations from both Sydney and Brisbane for their upcoming cruise to Kiriwina, set to depart on April 27th.

This generous support enables us to allocate funds that would have otherwise gone towards high freight costs, allowing us to invest in midwife salaries and provide critical clean water tanks and pumps. It also helps us maintain our focus on supplying birthing and dignity kits, recording births, and training village birth attendants.

In this upcoming delivery, we are excited to include a collection of donations, including half that Cyclone Alfred impacted. Special thanks go out to our incredible friends, Sandy and John, for facilitating this effort and to the talented knitters and sewers from Belrose Country Club and Willandra Village. Additionally, we’re proud to provide 100 dignity kits for the female students at Losuia Secondary School.

With the continued assistance of our amazing sponsors and donors, we are thrilled to respond as effectively to the needs of the Kiriwina community. A heartfelt THANK YOU to everyone involved!

#knittingforacause #Kiriwina #babyknits #caringforkiriwina #vbabirthingkits #team, #management, #people, #caringforkiriwina, #cleanwater, #villagelife, #villagebirthattendants, #kiriwina, #trobriandislands, #papuanewguinea, #mothers, #mothersandbabies, #babies, #safebirths, #covid, #villagebirthattendants, #midwives, #belroseknitters, #education, #schools, #health, #charity, #willandravillage, #belrosecountryclub

Ready to take full advantage of this rainy weather! ☔😁 #RainyDays #WaterConservation #Sustainability #Cleanwater #CaringforKiriwina😁💧

Photos and video of the Water Tank at the Losuia Secondary School and Health Centre being installed 😍

We are thrilled to share that the much-anticipated donations from passengers of the P&O/Carnival February cruise have finally reached their destination in Kiriwina!

These generous contributions, whose delivery was affected by cyclone Alfred, have now made their way into the hands of the students at Kiriwina’s Primary and Secondary Schools.

A heartfelt thank you to all the passengers whose kindness has made a positive impact on the community. Your support will help enhance the educational experience for many young learners.

Stay tuned for updates on how these donations are making a difference!

Photo of education donations finally being received by Losuia Primary School.

#team, #management, #people, #caringforkiriwina, #cleanwater, #villagelife, #villagebirthattendants, #kiriwina, #trobriandislands, #papuanewguinea, #mothers, #mothersandbabies, #babies, #safebirths, #villagebirthattendants, #midwives, #P&Ocruisesaustralia, #CarnivalCruises, #education, #schools, #health, #charity.

We are excited to announce that the upcoming installation of water tanks will take place at Kiriwina Secondary School and the Losuia Health Centre starting next week. Thank you to all our sponsors and donors who have made this dream a reality!

As part of our ongoing clean water program (funds permitting), we are also planning to install additional water tanks at Losuia Primary School and Oyabia Mission Station in the following phase.

Stay tuned for updates as we work towards improving access to clean water in the Kiriwinan community!

#caringforkiriwina, #cleanwater, #watertanks, #hygiene, #charity, #water, #health, #education, #papuanewguinea, #kiriwina, #trobriandislands, #MilneBay, #ReopenKiriwinaflights

We are thrilled to share that our shipment of 10,000-litre water tanks will be delivered to Kiriwina in two days for Installation next week!

We can’t wait to capture the installations at the Losuia Health Centre and Losuia Secondary School. Stay tuned for updates and photos!

This delivery is also a heartfelt tribute to Margaret Lawton on her birthday anniversary. We believe she would be proud to see this important contribution to the community. A big thank you to our sponsors and donors.

#caringforkiriwina, #cleanwater, #watertanks, #hygiene, #charity, #water, #health, #education, #papuanewguinea, #kiriwina, #trobriandislands, #MilneBay, #ReopenKiriwinaflights

We are deeply saddened to hear news of Aaron’s passing.  He was a gentle and beautiful person, always with a smile on his face.

We have fond and lasting memories of Aaron, especially his time in Canberra, and remember the great legacy of his Bible translation work, which will be with the Kiriwina people long into the future.

Please pass on our love and condolences to Aaron’s family.

Doug & Jodi Lawton

Sydney, Monday 24 March 2025