Hi Michelle,
I recently trekked Kokoda and found that village life goes on regardless. The whole trekking setup is a bonus for the farmers as fresh fruit n vegies are offered at nearly all villages or rest stops as well as warm cans of soft drink. However it is obvious that this is not their entire dependency. Life is so tough up there they need to provide for their families through their own efforts in their gardens, hunting etc.

I guess the biggest impact is the rest houses and the renting of these by trekking companies. It would be a big undertaking by the villagers to construct a rest house large enough to accommodate 12-14 trekkers plus frames for another house for the porters to setup their shelters. The payoff is in the influx of cash to that village, paid to the headman from what I observed. How that money benefits the village is unknown.

Most of the kids get excited to see different people everyday. Lollies handed out by trekkers are a scourge in my opinion as their dental care is not matched to the impact of sweets in their diet.

Hope this helps, if you have any other questions please do not hesitate to contact me.

Cheers

Andrew