Kokoda Track Foundation

[Boss Meri]

Dear Gail and the team from Kokoda Trekking,

As supporters of the Kokoda Track Foundation, I am writing to thank you for the generous contribution you have made to improving the lives and livelihoods of the Kokoda Track catchment communities.
Please find attached a letter from the Foundation thanking our financial and in-kind partners who have assisted us in one form or another over the years. The letter outlines the broad range of projects we are running across 40 communities in the vital areas of education, health, community development and microbusiness. We are delighted to share these achievements with you in this important year and are grateful to all of our supporters who make this possible.

I do hope you enjoy reading about all that has happened and please feel free to share this within your networks.

Thank you again for your support,

Kind Regards,

Genevieve.

Dr Genevieve Nelson
Executive Director
Kokoda Track Foundation Ltd
http://www.kokodatrackfoundation.org
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kokod…8074837?ref=ts
kokoda-logo-photo.png

[Boss Meri]

A BIKPELA TENKYU from all of us at the KOKODA TRACK FOUNDATION … for keeping the spirit of Kokoda alive

…70 years on

The Kokoda Track Foundation is an Australian, philanthropic organisation that has been supporting the Kokoda Track communities since 2003. Our programs in education, health, community development and microbusiness are making an enormous difference in the lives and livelihoods of thousands of villages living across 40 communities in the Kokoda Track catchment area.

Unlike many not-for‐profits, we rely entirely on the private sector to fund our organisation – corporate partners, philanthropists, trusts and foundations, and the general public. We do not receive any funding from either the Australian or PNG Governments.

In this important year, the 70th Anniversary of the Kokoda campaign, with your help we are continuing to keep the spirit of Kokoda alive by repaying a debt of honour that we believe is owed to PNG for the great sacrifices made by the Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels. Our work simply would not be possible without the enormous financial and in‐kind support we receive from our various corporate partners and the many individuals who give so generously. We are forever grateful for the generous spirit of our friends in both PNG and Australia.

Please do read on to find out more about what you have enabled us to achieve over the past 5 years. The majority of the growth of our programs and initiatives has taken place over this time and we are very proud of the changes that we can see in the day-to-‐day lives of the villagers living along and around the Kokoda Track.

On behalf of the board of the Kokoda Track Foundation I thank you for your generous support to date and look forward to partnering with you as we continue to keep the spirit alive.

Dr Genevieve Nelson

Executive Director, Kokoda Track Foundation

[Boss Meri]

Their Achievements in Education

• Supported over 1,000 students on Fuzzy Wuzzy Angel Scholarships, enabling them to access an education they otherwise would not have. Students are supported throughout their primary and secondary schooling and onto tertiary studies or further training of their choice. Enrollment rates in the region have doubled and even tripled in some areas;

• Supported 40 elementary, primary and high schools with educational resources, curriculum materials, teacher resources, and stationery every year over the past decade;

• Delivered 80 classrooms of school furniture to 23 elementary and primary schools along and around the Track;

• Built a number of new classrooms and conducted maintenance on run-*‐down buildings across the region;

• Developed an innovative and state-*‐of-*‐the-*‐art elementary teacher training program for the Oro and Central Provinces;

• Trained over 60 new elementary and primary teachers for the region;

• Supported 25 elementary and primary teacher salaries enabling 25 schools to remain open along and around the Track and

supported them with professional development, mentoring and upskilling their qualifications;

• Developed and implemented the Archer Leadership Scholarships and the Bisset Medal that seek to find and foster the next

generation of PNG leaders;

• Supported teacher volunteers to undertake placements in the Kokoda Track schools providing professional development,

training, mentoring and support for many struggling schools.

[Boss Meri]

Their Achievements in Health

‘”

\n”.self::process_list_items(“‘.str_replace(‘
‘, ”, ‘

[*]Supported 13 Community Health Worker scholarships to train urgently needed heath workers for the Kokoda Track region;

[*]Funded 10 Community Health Worker salary positions to operate the various aid posts and health centres along and around the Kokoda Track; Health workers also go on regular patrols to villages across the region without any access to healthcare;

[*]Delivered urgently required drugs and medical supplies to Kokoda Memorial Hospital every year for the past decade, keeping the hospital doors open when they all too often run out of supplies;

[*]Delivered urgently needed drugs and medical supplies to eight aid posts and health centres in the region to keep doors open;

[*]Delivered 100 hospital beds to eight aid posts, health centres and hospitals in the region;

[*]Maintenance work on aid posts and health centres to reopen them for health workers to take up their postings.

‘).'”).”\n

“‘

[Boss Meri]

‘”

\n”.self::process_list_items(“‘.str_replace(‘
‘, ”, ‘

[*]Their Achievements in Community Development / Agriculture

[*]Built the Milton Lay Community Hall in Koko village – a unique facility that is now being used to deliver elementary teacher training; operate the Kou Kou pre-*‐school; run microbusiness training; and deliver 1st aid and HIV peer education awareness programs;

[*]Delivered 3,500 solar lights to every family living along and around the Kokoda Track literally Lighting Up The Track;

[*]Responded to numerous natural disasters in the Oro Province with emergency food, medical, and relief supplies including

[*]Cyclone Guba 2007; Oro floods 2009; Oro floods 2011/2012;

[*]Initiated Northern Province Food Restoration Project and funded the building of 4 ‘mother’ seed multiplication nurseries and

[*]imported improved agriculture to nurseries for multiplication and distribution throughout Oro Province; Assisted thousands

[*]of villages in the region to restart their food gardens and increase food security;

[*]Funded our village agriculture and food security project and built 30 satellite nurseries across Oro Province. Schools and

[*]villages selling fruits and vegetables to earn an income and improved seeds distributed FOC to villages still in need;

[*]Installed 6 composting toilets in campsites and 6 composting toilets in schools along the Track via our Krappers for Kokoda

[*]pilot project. Continuing piloting new models of sanitation and water projects in the region.

‘).'”).”\n

“‘

[Boss Meri]

Their Achievements in Microbusiness ‘”

\n”.self::process_list_items(“‘.str_replace(‘
‘, ”, ‘

[*]Implemented Pawa Givim Meri in eleven villages along the Kokoda Track, working with women’s groups to empower them and enable them to earn an income. We run small business workshops, cooking classes and literacy classes with the women’s groups and all are now making a profit from their businesses;

[*]Initiated a microlending scheme in all 11 Pawa Givim Meri sites providing small loans to the women’s groups to sell solar lights to villagers and passing trekkers. The women are also taught how to repair broken lights and change batteries after 2 years;

[*]Skills training and sustainable livelihoods projects upskilling men and women in trades and agriculture in Kou Kou 1 and 2 and the surrounding region. ‘).'”).”\n

“‘

[Boss Meri]

Our 70th Anniversary Commemorative Project: Kokoda College‘”

\n”.self::process_list_items(“‘.str_replace(‘
‘, ”, ‘

[*]Preparations are under way to build the Kokoda College – a state-of-the-art training institute that will train enough elementary and primary teachers and community health workers for the entire Kokoda Track region in its first 3 years of operation.’).'”).”\n

“‘

[Boss Meri]

Their Valued Corporate Partners

PNG Corporate Partners – financial

The following PNG – based corporate partners make vital financial contributions to their programs. This funding supports their wide variety of education, health, community development and microbusiness projects that they now deliver across 40 communities throughout the Kokoda Track catchment region:'”

\n”.self::process_list_items(“‘.str_replace(‘
‘, ”, ‘

[*]PNG Sustainable Development Program

[*]PNG Corporate Partners – in‐kind ‘).'”).”\n

“‘

The following PNG ‐ based corporate partners make vital in‐kind contributions to their programs. This in‐kind support enables them to make significant savings so that they can direct vital funds to their projects. In‐kind support is provided for a wide range of activities including their accommodation and travel needs, logistical assistance with projects, and their legal, accounting, marketing and website requirements:

‘”

\n”.self::process_list_items(“‘.str_replace(‘
‘, ”, ‘

[*]Crowne Plaza, Port Moresby – accommodation for staff & volunteers; function/event services

[*]Higaturu Oil Palms – project services & transport assistance (school & hospital furniture project)

[*]Air Niugini – international & domestic travel services

[*]Ashurst – legal services

[*]Skerah – marketing services

[*]Heli Niugini – project services & transport assistance (Krappers for Kokoda)

[*]Rotary Club of Port Moresby – project services

[*]Australia PNG Business Council – marketing services

[*]Theodist – project services (school resource & infrastructure program)

[*]Popondetta Stationery Supplies (school resource & infrastructure program)

[*]Dr Rob Gilfillan – project services

[*]Kokoda Development Program – project assistance (community health worker training & salary program)

[*]His Excellency Ian Kemish and the Australian High Commission – advice & assistance

[*]PNG Trekking Adventures – mentoring and training for project officers ‘).'”).”\n

“‘

Australian Corporate Partners – financial

The following Australian – based corporate partners make vital financial contributions to their programs. This funding supports their wide variety of education, health, community development and microbusiness projects that they now deliver across 40 communities throughout the Kokoda Track catchment region: ‘”

\n”.self::process_list_items(“‘.str_replace(‘
‘, ”, ‘

[*]Bill James

[*]On Track Expeditions

[*]The Trust Company as trustee for the Fred P. Archer charitable trust

[*]Harris Family Foundation

[*]Hawthorn Football Club

[*]The Lost Battlefield Trust

[*]Josh Hodgkinson

[*]Tony Harbrow

[*]Perpetual

[*]Lloyd & Deirdre Birdsall

[*]Executive Excellence

[*]James Hill / The Marketing Strategist

[*]Saint Ignatius Riverview

[*]Legacy Kokoda Fraternity

[*]Kokoda Challenge Association

[*]Military Shop

[*]Icon Adventures

[*]Merrylands RSL

[*]Peters Family Foundation

[*]Flexiway Solar Solutions

[*]Rotary Club of Camberwell

[*]Chester Hill – Carramar Sub Branch RSL

[*]DVA Staff Giving

[*]RSL & Services Clubs Association

[*]Hannah Kinross Scholarship

[*]Matthew Leonard Scholarship

[*]No Roads Expeditions

[*]Frontline Kokoda

[*]Free Spirit Adventures

[*]Tumbarumba to Kokoda

[*]Kokoda Spirit

[*]Aurora Adventures

[*]Adventure Out Australia

[*]Kokoda Historical

[*]PNG Tourism

[*]Kokoda Tribute

[*]Medal Art Mint

[*]39th Australian Infantry Battalion

[*]3rd Australian Infantry Battalion

[*]Rossetti Family

[*]Kokoda Brothers

[*]Back Track Adventures / Garry Thompson

[*]Redfern RSL Club

[*]James Holden

[*]Canterbury – Hurlstone Park RSL Club

[*]Campsie RSL Sub Branch

[*]Fintona Girls School

[*]Kokoda Trekking

[*]Niugini Holidays

[*]Dr Barry Reed

[*]Nick Walsh

[*]David Healey

[*]Frankston RSL Club

[*]BHP Billiton Matched Giving ‘).'”).”\n

“‘

Australian Corporate Partners – in – kind

The following Australian based corporate partners make vital in – kind contributions to their programs. This in-kind support enables them to make significant savings so that they can direct vital funds to their projects. In-kind support is provided for a wide range of activities including their accommodation and travel needs, logistical assistance with projects, and their legal, accounting, marketing and website requirements: ‘”

\n”.self::process_list_items(“‘.str_replace(‘
‘, ”, ‘

[*]Cambooya Services – office rent

[*]Deloitte – auditing services

[*]Ashurst – legal services

[*]His Excellency Charles Lepani and the PNG High Commission

[*]Dashing Print – printing services

[*]Mike Nelson – Films, Events, Production – event management & film services

[*]Team BIGFISH – project services (Krappers for Kokoda)

[*]Debit & Credit Bookkeeping Services – accounting services

[*]Paul Hanna Design & Websites – website & graphic design services

[*]Kirribili Club – venue services

[*]Birdwing Oro Treks

[*]Rotary Australia World Community Service – project services (school & hospital furniture project)

[*]Flexiway Solar Solutions – project services (Lighting Up The Track)

[*]The LEADERS Project – project services (Archer Leadership Scholarship)

[*]De Bortoli Wines – event alcohol donations

[*]Lion – event alcohol donations

[*]PNG Tourism – marketing services ‘).'”).”\n

“‘

Thank you to their amazing corporate partners for helping them to keep the spirit of Kokoda alive… 70 years on.

[Author]

Posts