Our in country manager, Toks Bwaina, is on Kiriwina to report on the progress of our CFK projects.
As part of the CFK food security initiative, Toks hosts a celebration at the conclusion of the yam harvest period, awarding of the best yam gardeners with prizes and supervises the distribution and storage of yams into the yam houses for future use.
Wishing we could be there with you at this wonderful time of the year!
Our In-country manager is planning a reporting trip over to Kiriwina on the 13th July to deliver and distribute birthing kits, pens, school bags, baby knitting and to report on the progress of the Caring for Kiriwina Scholarship students. These students generally start their scholarship in year 10, so if you would like to continue to sponsor your child please donate for years 11 and 12.
Thank you to all our wonderful sponsors and donors for your continued generosity… your continued support is essential. 🙌
With 7 projects on the go… Caring for Kiriwina (CFK) has been helping the women and children on Kiriwina for many years. Please give generously this end of financial year to help support this ongoing work.
Kiriwina VBA’s receiving their lanterns, batteries, facemasks, gloves, pens and other PPE’s.
Birth Supplies/Birthing Training: Supporting our 275 Village Birth Attendants and the only medical centre on the Island, Losuia Health centre, supplying Birthing Kits, Training, lights, Birth registration booklets, Mobiles phones and many other essential items.
Kiriwina Secondary School (KSS) female students receiving their dignity kits.
Dignity Kits: UNICEF says that adolescent girls in school suffer the most when they are menstruating. Many schools report absenteeism among adolescent girls due to a lack of clean, private changing rooms and without access to soap, water and sanitary pads. Some stay away from school for a few days. CFK provides the women and girls on Kiriwina with dignity kits that contain two reusable menstrual pads, two underpants, two soaps and a bag to store them in. CFK’s constant supply of Dignity Kits has increased female participation rates.
CFK sponsored students with the teacher, Mr Arnold Kalu (in green color T-shirt and long blue pants) who is coordinating CFK assistance at KSS. Only 12 out of 19 students were available when this photo was taken.
School Education:Initiative 1:Educational materials. The support from CFK has allowed all the schools on Kiriwina to sit their yearly exams. Due to continual government absence of supply, CFK has donated and continues to supply thousands of pens and pencils to all the schools on Kiriwina. Initiative 2:CFK School Fee Scholarship Program. CFK administers the CFK School Fee Scholarship program which pays for the mandatory High school fees for extremely vulnerable students. Initiative 3:Translation of readers into Kiriwinan. CFK is also working on producing a primer (first textbook) for teaching of reading in the Kiriwinan language, an alphabet book and a basal reader. It is incredibly important for the children to be literate in their own language.
Kavataria pump in operation. Koega advised that we need to replace the pipe as soon as possible as the current pipe is rotting away to avoid rust mixing with water.
Clean Drinking Water: We have supplied and maintained four water pumps on Kiriwina with an aim of distributing many more Island wide. These pumps currently supply the main village, 2 remote villages and the Kiriwina Secondary School with clean drinking water. Kiriwina Island is flat, with no rivers and no naturally-occurring fresh drinking water. While the underground water table is easily accessed as it is shallow, it is of brackish quality and frequently not potable, although suitable for bathing (and is so used for the 55,000 Kiriwina inhabitants). The village toilets and household rubbish from about 80 villages contaminate it further. Our pumps allow access to deeper, cleaner water suitable for drinking. Mr Koega, a Kiriwinan plumber, installs and maintains the pumps for CFK.
Koega and team fixing the Kiriwina Secondary School girls and boys water pumps.
All of the pumps has been fixed and are currently working, however they require constant maintenance.
Health and Hygiene/COVID-19 supplies: The pandemic continues to negatively impact the people of Kiriwina. CFK sends a constant supply of masks, gloves, sanitisers, and soaps to the medical centre.
Losuia Health Centre nurses Raymond and Linnesse receiving CFK donations.
Here is a gallery of x 30 photos of the memorial service that happened at the same time/day on Kiriwina as the funeral service in Australia for the late Rev. Dr. Ralph Lawton.
As mentioned in our recent e-news the Memorial Service was held on Kiriwina from 11am 27th April 2021 and was attended by a huge crowd of people from all over Kiriwina including sister churches. Due to a large number of people, the service was conducted at the small field where the Bible Dedication celebrations were held in 2012. Many people cried when the Biography of late Rev. Dr. Ralph Lawton was read. Representatives of Kiriwina Bible Translation Committee, VBA’s, Catholic and United Church officials gave their Tributes about the Life of Rev Dr Ralph Lawton. All who attended the Memorial Service dressed in black and white. The VBA’s came in with their VBA uniforms. It was a great memorial service concluded with feasting and celebrations the Kiriwinan way. There was lot of food distributed, the people ate and took food home.
We at CFK are very proud that the late Rev. Dr. Ralph Lawton who was further honored with:
The Church New Building at Mulosaida Village was Officially declared that the Building will be named as “Rev. Dr. Ralph Lawton Memorial Church”. The church will be officially opened and dedicated in July 2021. and…
The Mission Station at Oyabia, was renamed as “IYUPALILAGUYAU LOTONI”.
It was indeed a great and a memorable memorial service. THANK YOU AGAIN KIRIWINA!!!!
Thank you so much to our wonderful volunteer packers, Maria Black, Tracey Small, Finola Border, Lucy Spencer and Bev Buckley, (the book club 🙂 with Andrew Sweeney providing cups of tea and Vanessa Palfreeman at the helm, who all gave up their Saturday afternoon to pack birthing kits for the women of Kiriwina.
Thanks also goes to the donors, who made it possible to purchase all our high quality contents to assemble the kits xxx.
VBAs from all over the Island came to report to our in-country manager during his reporting visit in April, receiving delivery of birthing kits, lanterns, torches, PPE, baby clothing, batteries and soap.
Due to lack of delivery of basic health services to Kiriwina by the PNG National and Milne Bay Provincial Governments, the health services on Kiriwina have badly deteriorated.
The Village Birth Attendants (VBAs) are in desperate need of many items and equipment to help them in assisting with deliveries of pregnant women in isolated communities. The VBAs receive no form of support from the Government, their only support is through donations from CFK.
There are currently 275 VBAs on Kiriwina. Due to the increase in the rate of births due in April, May and June 2021, the VBAs have requested more birthing kits, birth record books, soap, face masks, hand sanitizers, hand gloves, torches, batteries, baby scales and other items to support their pregnant women deliver in their respective circuits.
We regularly send packages to the VBAs, and with your financial help this can continue. Please consider a regular donation, as this allows us to plan for the future and manage resources.
VBAs receive delivery of 50 lanterns and batteries for torches plus hundreds of birthing kits, baby knits and PPE.Regular Subscription Payment Donations
The Losuia Health Centre is currently in crisis with a lack of basic medicines, drugs and family control methods.
Losuia Health Centre nurses Linnesse and Raymond recently received delivery of hundreds of PPE, face masks, hand sanitizers, birthing kits and baby knitting clothes as well as COVID 19 Awareness Posters from CFK. Sister Linnese reported that the number of pregnancies for the first quarter (Jan – Mar) of 2021, doubled as compared with the last quarter of (Oct-Dec) of 2020. One reason for the increase is that the Losuia Health Centre has run out of family planning methods such as contraceptives and condoms.
Losuia Health Centre nurses Raymond and Linnesse receiving CFK donations.
Our In-country manager noted many pregnant mothers returning from the clinic at Losuia Health Centre.
Pregnant mothers waiting for their names to be called at the clinic at Losuia Health Centre.
Kiriwina Secondary School
The students are in a 4 week isolation lock down as directed by the PNG Government to control the spread of COVID 19, resulting in the closure of all Primary and Secondary Schools in PNG. The female re-usable menstrual pads and pens will be delivered in mid-May once the schools are reopened.
What a great Humanitarian
With CFK’s support Janson Toposona runs a small dispensary clinic in Kavataria Village. He is a Medical Officer by profession and former lecturer with Divine Word University based in Madang. He retired from his formal employment, returned home and volunteered to run the small dispensary clinic. The clinic is very helpful to the community. Janson provides free medical services and treats minor cases and with major cases referred to Losuia Health Centre for further treatment.
Jason in his hut which acts as a small medical clinic.
Water pumps
The Communities where the water pumps were installed reported that their pumps are in good condition and we have had further requests for water pumps to be installed in other respective communities and villages.
Food security program
The harvest season is getting nearer. The CFK sponsored gardens have been inspected and yams and other food crops are ready to be harvested in May, June and July this year. The long yams were ready and being harvested and they are being hung in the yam houses for long term storage. There are a total of 103 long yams, ranging from 0.8m to 1.5m! The other type of yams will be harvested in May when the food security yam harvest program is officially opened.
7.3.1928 – 21.4.2021
Rev. Dr. Ralph Lawton was regarded as a Kiriwinan (Trobriand Islander). He called Kiriwina “home” and spoke the Kiriwinan language fluently. He lived the life of the people of Kiriwina, ate the food, drank the water, felt the pains, struggles and the hardships daily. Ralph respected the cultural norms of Kiriwina.
In keeping with the Kiriwinan’s sense of humor Ralph was known as a chief and given the Kiriwinan name “Iyupalilaguyau Lotoni” which means “He who thinks he is Chief Lawton‘.
In Ralph’s honour the Oyabia Mission Station will now been renamed “Oyabia Iyupalilaguyau Lotoni”. Dual country memorial services were held simultaneously on Tuesday 27th April at 11am, with a huge socially distanced crowd of Kiriwinan’s in attendance coming from all over the Island. Tributes were given by representatives of the Kiriwina Bible Translation Committee, VBA’s, Catholic Church and United Church. During that ceremony the New Church Building at Mulosaida Village was also dedicated in honour of Ralph and officially named the “Rev. Dr. Ralph Lawton Memorial Church”. The church will be officially opened and dedicated in July 2021. Thank you Kiriwina.
CFK VBA delivered babies with their mothers dressed in the knitting supplied by Belrose County Club Knitters. Thank you to all our wonderful sponsors and donors.
Photos of our fabulous Postie Andy and team, including Dugie, sending the boxes and boxes of birthing kits, baby knits from our gorgeous Belrose knitters, Michelle’s handmade dresses for the girls, pens, and pencils for the schools, backpacks for VBA’s, and school children, panadol for the Losuia Health Centre and Kavataria volunteer clinic.
We have also purchased another 30 lanterns, 10 boxes of batteries, 5 boxes of gloves, 10 boxes of face masks. Our In-country manager will travel over around the 14th of May to deliver female dignity kits to Kiriwina High Secondary School and meet with the school management to confirm the balance of 2021 school fees for 19 students.
Toks is also traveling to Kiriwina to officially open the harvest season as the host of the CFK Food Security Program to commence the harvesting of the yams that will be carried and stored into the yam houses to conclude the program.
Thank you, thank you all our wonderful donors and volunteers for making this all possible!!!.
