Kiriwina Island is a remote island off the coast of Papua New Guinea, where the people have a struggle for survival due to lack of water and resources.
This project has been long-standing and has involved many different projects, led by Club member Alan Lunghusen, who has visited the island and worked with the locals on a dozen occasions.
These projects include: - Providing running water to the island hospital - Building desks for several schools - Teaching local men how to build school desks using battery power tools - Dispatching a container of hospital equipment from Donations In Kind - Building a composting toilet for a school providing a total of 6 cubicles - Ensuring a program of toilet maintenance is sustained - Replacing the batteries and fans for the composting toilets on a regular basis.
The support of the Rotary Club of Rowville Lysterfield currently is
Club members have also helped out financially with cases of individual need, such as when the bread winner in a family was killed in a freak accident, by supplying funds to purchase rice and other staples. In another instance, a young girl, unable to walk, who needed surgery on the mainland was able to be transported there and have surgery by the donations made by our Club.
This year there was a project that was funded in part by a District Grant to replace an outboard motor on a boat that was used for fishing. This boat had also become the rescue boat that was used to rescue fishermen in their dugout canoes when they ran into trouble in rough seas. As well as the new motor, eight life vests were purchased, plus a can of fuel for the motor.
In recent years the focus has been on enhancing the educational opportunities for some young people on the island, as education of the young will be the best way to improve the life choices on the island.
With this aim, several young people have been given financial support to leave the island and train as primary teachers, with one of them now back on the island as a teacher. Currently a District Grant is being used, in conjunction with Club money and some private donations, to assist a young girl to receive training at a college in Mt Hagen that will equip her for a career in HR and Communication.
To learn more about the Kiriwina Aid Project, please feel free to download our free PDF version of the Book The Kiriwina Man.
You can also purchase a hard copy, if you wish to help us support this profect financially.
