CLIMB EVERY MOUNTAIN

Simbu Province has mountains that make Australia’s highest peak, Mt Kosciusko, pale into insignificance.

To get an idea of how steep the hills are around the town of Kundiawa, just look up into the night sky if you’re there overnight.

You might think you’re looking at stars but then you realise they’re actually the headlights of a vehicle driving on a winding mountain road high above you.

So delivering books donated by Books 4 PNG Kids to schools even just a few kilometres off the Okuk (Highlands) Highway in this mountainous province in PNG’s Highlands is not easy.

Now, thanks to deliveries this year organised by Martha Waim, with logical support from Charles Bilgan in Lae, 15 schools around Kundiawa-Gembogl and Chuave districts have received books from a total of 144 cartons of books donated by Books 4 PNG Kids and shipped from Brisbane-Lae earlier this year.

Among them was Koglai Primary School in Waiye LLG, Kundiawa-Gembogl district, which received 7 boxes of elementary books for its 200+ students.

The school is in mountainous terrain north of the Okuk Highway, about 5km NW of Kundiawa and almost 30km south (as the crow flies) of PNG’s highest mountain, Mt Wilhelm. Even though Mt Wilhelm is in the tropics, it sometimes snows on top.

Martha said Koglai Primary School’s teachers contacted her after hearing about her book deliveries.

“They organised and had the books picked up from our storage and brought them out to their school which is in rural Kundiawa-Gembogl. They were very appreciative of the books given,” she says.

Education is very important in Simbu Province because there are few natural resources and the harsh terrain means it’s difficult to grow crops and take them to market.

The very remote Irugl Primary School, with 120+ students, in Mitnande LLG, near Mt Wilhelm, received 10 boxes of books donated by Books 4 PNG Kids thanks to a delivery by Christina.

“We thank you for making this happen! More than 3000+ students will have benefitted from (all the deliveries),” Martha says.