MEDIA RELEASE
13 July 2006
For immediate release
AUSTRALIAN VOLUNTEERS COME TO WORK ON COMMUNITY PROJECTS
Six young Australian volunteers set off on a three month trip today to work on community projects with the Koiari people in Central Province.
The Australian Volunteer International (AVI) Youth Program volunteers will work on small water projects, coffee harvesting and educational workshops.
They will spend four weeks at Mesime Village, 15 miles outside Port Moresby, before flying up to Boridi Village in Upper Mt Koiari for five weeks. The groups will then walk part of the Kokoda Track and return to Port Moresby in mid-September.
The AVI Youth Program aims to help strengthen the bilateral relationships between PNG and Australia and develop people-to-people links.
Acting High Commissioner to PNG, Ann Harrap, met the volunteers before they set off and encouraged them to get to know their Papua New Guinean hosts.
Ms Harrap said: “The AVI Youth Program visit will help further strengthen those important people-to-people links between PNG and Australia.”
AVI Youth Program Team Leader Robyn Tucker said: “The focus of this program is on building strong friendships between Australians and Papua New Guineans and also sharing skills.”
One the volunteers, Diana Hull, from Melbourne, said: “I want to learn as much as I can from Papua New Guineans and take those special qualities back to Australia.”
And Jacqueline Wiley, from Sydney, added: “The projects we are working on are a small repayment for the help that Australian soldiers received from Papua New Guineans in World War II.”
The AVI Youth Program has sending volunteers to work with the Koiari communities for five years, through its partner organisation Koiari Holdings Ltd. Each AVI Youth Program volunteer had to raise about K10,000 (A$4,500) to cover the cost of their placement.
Media Inquiries: Leigh Arnold, Public Affairs Manager. Ph: 325 9333 ext 275. Mobile: 683 9811