BRISBANE VOLUNTEERS!

Books 4 PNG Kids is holding a special 

PACKING DAY on 

Saturday, May 9 (8.30am-2pm) at

Books 4 PNG Kids factory at 39 Flanders St, Salisbury

and we’d love your help - even for a couple of hours.

Come along and bring your friends, family or sports club team. 

Just wear enclosed shoes as we pack and label boxes of books bound for PNG schools.

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MIGHTY JOURNEY

The Waria River is a mighty river that flows into the Solomon Sea from Oro and Morobe Provinces on the SE coast of PNG’s main island.

Often fast-flowing, it’s the only way to reach some of these remote schools pictured in this major delivery for Books 4 PNG Kids by SERACS Foundation’s Ponsie Yasaro, Jennifer Siraba and team, but it also presents challenges.

After Books 4 PNG Kids donated and shipped 153 cartons of books from Brisbane-Lae in 2024, Ponsie, a research associate with SERACS Foundation, organised the delivery to 12 schools in Morobe Province.

The first part of the journey was daunting in itself - a 4-hour dinghy trip with the books from Lae to Morobe that became 6 hours due to bad weather.

Morobe is 130km directly southeast of Lae, across the Huon Gulf on the NE coastline of PNG’s “mainland”, but it’s not an easy trip, considering the weather, tides, currents, waves, wind and reefs.

“We had to stop along the way and take refuge on the island,” Ponsie says. 

“It’s normal for me, as I used to travel back and forth every Christmas.”

Once they reached Morobe, books were delivered to Morobe Primary School (645 students, five boxes) but many of the other schools were only accessible by sea or river.

The top-performing Eu Primary (500 students, 5 boxes) was only accessible by sea, as were Kobo Primary (175 students, 4 boxes) and Toyare Primary (210 students, 5 boxes) at the mouth of the Waria River. 

Further along the River, Zara Aingse Primary (700 students, 5 boxes) had a library but no books.

Subiyoro Primary (189 students, 5 boxes), inland along the Mou River, was accessible by road and river.

Elementary schools that received books included Sapa (75 students, 4 boxes), Giazani (53, 3), Sinugu (65, 4), Boura (105, 4), Ana Pose (76, 4) and Taga Elementary (80,4).

“These resources are expected to benefit approximately 2,873 students – 2,419 primary school students and 454 elementary students,” according to SERACS Foundation.

The Foundation promotes community development including adult, youth and financial literacy for disadvantaged people in PNG.

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