In 23rd August - 3rd September 2010, Rotary conducted training for 16 women. Eleven sewing machines were given to 11 women who participated in the training on a soft loan in October 2010. Within one year these women have put into practise the training they received to help themselves and started paying their soft loans.
Firstly, we will report on the progress of the soft loan, then the progress of project by individual women who participated in the training.
Due October 2012
Below are the names of women who received training. Some have received a machine and/sewing kit. This is their progress on the project to date - 1 year
Nearly all (75%) the women who received the training are putting into practise the skills gained and are benefiting from the project. Also two trainers identified through the training have trained 56 women plus 4 women trained by another participant giving a total of 60 women.
Due to machine break down, Kay Kuni has not done much of her own but trained others to spread the skills gained.
Women are using the income generated to support their families in many ways to meet their needs.
Example 1. Judy Tangeria is a widow and this project has benefited her a lot. She receives orders from Tari in the Southern Highlands Province. Through the training she has become confident in sewing and generates good income.
Example 2. Erol Mark said; now she has money to meet her family needs and has is very happy it is benefiting her.
Women are empowered through the skills gained to make life comfortable for their own families and the community. Thanks to Rotary!
You can download a powerpoint presentation containing images from our trip HERE
Porgera is a remote community in the Western Highlands of PNG. It is situated at around 8,000 feet in a very picturesque mountain setting. It is only accessible by charter flights controlled by the Barrick Gold Mine, or by road from Mt Hagen which would take six hours and require a police escort. There was originally approximately 10,000 population in the district but due to the attraction of the gold mine, many more have moved in and the population is now estimated at 50,000 plus. The people still have a tribal culture mixed with a little modernisation. They still fight between the clans, as they have apparently done for 1,000's of years. They also have a unique system of "compensation" for those who get killed in the fighting, and this custom of compensation has become a real issue for the mines as payment to buy the land never finalises the matter, and "compensation" is regularly requested for all manner of things.
The people are basically very poor, although the mine has paid the landowners very large sums of money- which may have been in the main just wasted due to no experience in handling money. The average family is two adults and 4 or 5 kids, with some families much larger. A small number perhaps only about 3,000 live in small homes supplied by the mine but the vast majority live in traditional house/huts made from natural materials which have no electricity, no water, and a pit toilet. They have no income except if they can sell some vegetables or fruit in the market. In the main the children do not go to school and there is no transport in the greater outlining areas other than walking. To reach medical assistance in Porgera, some may walk for 6 or 7 hours. The people live in a very tribal type existence but they expect that the government or the mines should do more for them and this causes unrest. We are told that initially the mines expected to look after the local people quite well (such as they give them free electricity) but when the population suddenly blew out 5 times larger, it became an impossible task. The people dress in an assortment of any clothes they can buy or be given and the children's clothes don't look like they are ever washed and most children do not have shoes. They help each other within the family clan so I get the feeling that no one goes hungry. Unfortunately they have a very strong body odour which is hard to handle when you are working with a group.
Alcohol is not readily available, however chewing betel nut is an aphrodisiac which is widely chewed but which unfortunately also destroys their teeth.
Health and other Amenities in the Porgera townships are quite good and they appear to be underutilized.
We visited the Hospital in Piam, the health Centre at Porgera Station (not really a station- just the town centre which was once the air-strip) the Aids Centre, and the mines own medical centre etc. and in almost all cases there was either no patients or nor one waiting- which is quite different to all other third World countries I have been to. Perhaps the people cannot reach these facilities. Dr Granada's at the hospital will operate on almost anything but when we visited the general ward with about 50 beds; the majority were accident patients, some from genuine accidents but many from fighting amongst the tribes. Dr Granada's wife is the only dentist in town. She seemed very relaxed when we spoke to her and she said she didn't have any patients today- adding that she has few patients as the betel nut destroys their teeth before they come to her and at best all she can do is remove them!
So improving life and conditions for the thousands that live a natural existence will be very difficult.
Sandra visited the schools and brought back photos of children sitting on gravel floors using stones for their counting. Like in many third World countries the schools are in shocking condition. However we visited the Piam High School and it wasn't so bad, and they had quite a good library which Christine had helped establish.
I am going to send them a computer for this library as currently they do not let the books out; the students have to use them only within the library.
Unfortunately there is constant fighting either between the tribes (or clans as they are called), or unrest between the people and the mine. It makes the place rather dangerous, and to go anywhere you need to do this either with the mines people or with a Police escort. While we were there we had a rather scary incident (see separate report) and several of our outings were cancelled because they regarded them as two dangerous. In the main there is no real threat to visitors such as us, the danger is only if one was to get caught up in some other fighting or uprising. The people have a very high respect for Christine, and any other people coming to help them, however it is necessary to have the mine's support to go just about anywhere.
We stayed at what is called the Mountain Lodge which is run by a company called IPI. This company contracts many services to the mine such as transport, catering etc. The lodge is like a small motel, in a picturesque setting just within walking distance of Porgera station (main town area). The accommodation is in basic wooden cabins, with all rooms having a shower and toilet. It is reasonably comfortable; however the water kept going off as they are short of water at the moment. Dinner at night is in the main dining room, and they have travellers and contractors come either to dinner or to stay overnight. Food is basic but while we were there they went to quite a deal of trouble to up the quality.
All transport o and from Porgera and while we were at Porgera was supplied by the mines. This proved to be quite frustrating at times as they would say that they will pick up will be 8am, but then the bus would come at 8.45am. Unfortunately this became the "norm."
We also had a lot of problems with the flights. When Sandra and I went to check in at Cairns at 5am on the first Sunday for tour charter flights to Porgera, to our surprise we were told been had been "bumped off ". This we found out later was a common occurrence and one could never be sure if you were on the Charter flight on not. So we spent two days in Cairns and then we managed to get on the Tuesday charter flight, However when we arrived in Mt Hagen and about to get on the small plane to Porgera at the very last minute we were "bumped off " again. However this time management at the mines took pity on us, and they sent down a helicopter to take us on the 45 minute flight up to Porgera.
Then again when we were to return to Cairns 16 days later we checked very carefully that all our flights were booked and guaranteed , but no, the evening before our departure suddenly some of us were bumped off again- which did cause a deal of upset for the whole team. Eventually four of the team went by helicopter in the early morning to Mt Hagen with the plan to fly on commercial flights onto Port Moresby and Cairns; while the other four ( which included me ) waited until the afternoon and went by light plane to Mt Hagen and then onto Cairns by charter. Ironically, the early four got stuck in Mt Hagen due to the non arrival of the commercial flight to Port Moresby and after waiting 6 hours, we were able to get them on our charter flight to Cairns, so we all arrived safely in Cairns together, Here we were met by Pauline and her husband and Lori's husband too, and we all went out to dinner together at the "Cock and Bull" in Cairns for a very well deserved drink and Aussie meal!
Barrick is a Canadian owned group which is said to be the World's largest gold miners. They have mines everywhere including USA, Canada, Australia, Tanzania, Kenya, Chile, Argentina, Dominican Republic etc.
The Porgera mine is a very rich gold mine, with a gold extraction of 4 to 5 grams per tonne of rock mined while gold mines are economical from 2 grams per 1,000 tonne normally. They have an open cut and an underground mine at this site. They ship out by helicopter around four gold bars per day, weighting 15 kg each- with the daily shipment being worth about US$4 million!
Barrick looked after our team extremely well and we sincerely thank Mark Fisher (CEO), General Manager Tim Omundsen, Community Involvement Manager Timothy Adambo, Community Development Manager Ken Egan, Media Manager Allison Davis, and Kelly Talia who looked after us every day.
"Rock Concert" is our nick name for the riot. Initially we were set up for the sewing course in a building used by the Women's Association which was situated at a fenced camp called Yoko 1. One of the other buildings in this Camp was the mine's community contact office- which was the first stop for any Porgerian wanting to talk to the mines about any social issue. Well on the second day of our sewing course around 200 or more people forced their way into the camp and tried to put a dead body on the manager's desk. A riot broke out and damage was done to the mines building etc. Staff that was scared came running towards our building. We shut the gate to our little yard; shut the doors and curtains and all laid low. The rebels threw large rocks on our roof and we were scared that one might come thru the window. Eventually the police turned up, preferring to stop their vehicles at the top of the hill 50 metres or more away from the trouble. The rebels then rushed towards the police- (why or what they had in mind we don't know), however the police shot tear gas into the crowd and bullets into the air, which immediately stopped the advancing rebels and eventually they broke up and scattered. The mines put out a media release that the dead man was nothing to do with the mines. He was found outside the mine fence and apparently had a broken neck from a fall or a fight.
Immediately afterwards Kelly turned up and took us back to the Mountain Lodge and then Allison Davis came and said they were moving us tomorrow to the Mine's administration building, where we set up again. In some ways it was a big plus, because at the admin building we used the training room which was double the size of where we were, and with much better facilities.
Initially we had planned to teach fifteen selected ladies, however somehow seventeen turned up which was a bit of a problem but we managed. First the teachers taught them to make a bag which they were all very excited about. However on the second morning all five teachers were sick- and ultimately spent the day in bed- so I taught all the ladies how to use a sewing machine with the help of Sandra and Christine. It was a very successful days training because when the teachers returned on the third day, the students were ever so much more competent with their machines. Then they went on to make a skirt and then the Meri Dress.
After that five advanced students went onto make a men's long sleeve shirt with Roberta, while the rest made a pair of children's pants and a child's shirt under the guidance of the other four teachers.
All in the entire sewing course was extremely successful and we achieved all we set out to do.
I gave a brief talk on business management and we gave them all a cash book and showed them how to cost their projects and how to manage their finances.
I was kept very busy every day solving machine problems, especially the two overlockers which were constantly jammed or unthreaded.
I also repaired a large number of machines that belonged to the students and friends. On the last two days I also taught two young students Andrew and Rosllyn from the vocational centre how to repair machines. They were very good and learnt quickly. They both had good mechanical skills.
Some of the machines I repaired were:
I also recorded the machines that were owned by the PWDA:
The new Singer 4 thread overlocker I took up, I donated to the Women's association for use by all the students. I hope they can just keep it threaded!
Twelve students took out the Micro-loan for the Sewing Machines and Sewing Kit being K400.00 repaid at K20 a month for 20 months and four took out the loan just for the sewing kit as they already owned reasonably good machines at K40 to be repaid at K5 a month for 8 months.
Both loan repayments don't start until Jan 1st 2011.
Maria will supervise the repayments, and all the money will be kept by the Women's Association so that they can buy more equipment later on.
| Name | Grade | Sewing Machine | Serial No. | Loan in Kina |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Judy Tangeria | A | Husky Star E10 | 1302812 | 400 |
| Kay Kuni | A | Janome 10185 | 743015516 | 400 |
| Wason Phillip | A | Janome My Style 16 | 052084587 | 400 |
| Maria Kensary | A | Sewing Kit | 40 | |
| Lucy Samuel | A- | Sewing Kit | 40 | |
| Susan Yuipa | B+ | Husky Sat E10 | V2200724 | 400 |
| Lineth Tommy | B | Sewing Kit | 40 | |
| Kara Maglap | B | Singer 1507 | ZHV912905014 | 400 |
| Helen Kei | B | Singer 1707 | ZHV912905047 | 400 |
| Mellie Kaiulo | B | Yet to be delivered | ||
| Lina Talia | B | Janome 415 | 303000178 | 400 |
| Regine Yarus | B | Singer 1507 | ZHV912905194 | 400 |
| Eroll Mark | B- | Husky Star E10 | V1300414 | 400 |
| Theresia Benala | C | Husky Star E10 | 29000794 | 400 |
| Betty Lakari | C | Singer 1607 | ZHV912805355 | 400 |
| Joy Taila | D | Sewing Kit | 40 | |
| Elizabeth Unange | D | Singer 5528 | 4060153 | 400 |
Grades were made by the teachers after the completion of the course but we didn't give them out.
Just for our own reference.
We brought up 4 new HuskyStar E10 machines, four Janome's hand machines which Janome serviced for us before they were sent ( some were like brand new ) and two Singers ( also serviced by Singer for us ) but the 700 series machine with needle thread bobbin winder we couldn't get to work. All in all we placed 9 machines with the ladies, plus one other which was packed up and will be sent out to a remote village which was a commitment Christine has had for some time; and the 700 Singer went round to the Vocational Centre for them to have a machine to work on.
We will round up some more machines and send them up shortly.
We supplied 15 ladies with a comprehensive sewing kit in a plastic tub. The kit supplied 30 basic sewing items (see list), plus we included fabric, elastic, braids, zippers, ribbon, bead kits and lots of other sewing supplies.
Caught morning Qantas flight to Cairns arriving at 12 noon Pauline Fenech met us at the airport and we went to the Mercure and then onto the RSL where we had a meeting in the Board Room. In the evening we all had dinner at the RSL and then walked home to the hotel.
Up at 3.30 am and picked up by the taxi van and arrived at the airport at 4.30 only to be told that the plane was overbooked and that we couldn't all get on. At first it seemed like 5 would have to stay but in the end it was only two so Sandra and I elected ourselves , waved good bye to the 6 ladies and went back to the Hotel and back into bed ! Later in the day hired a car and then a lovely dinner at Pisces on the waterfront.
We spent a lovely morning in Cairns (swim at the Hotel) much shopping at the DFO and then drove up to Palm Cove for dinner- very enjoyable
3am up, 4.30 airport, then flight to Mt Hagen on a Dash 8, 32 seater twin prop, which took 3 hours and 10 minutes ,and then at Mt Hagen again we were told the plane to Porgera was overbooked again. This time the people in Porgera despatched a helicopter which came down and picked us up for a fantastic 40 minute flight up to Porgera where we landed at the Helipad at the mine. Then after our safety induction we went and spent the afternoon at the Women's Centre and helped the teachers and fixed machines etc., many of the ladies finished their bag that was the first project. Patty was feeling sick so we went back to the Mountain Lodge where we are staying. We had dinner at 6pm and early to bed.
All 5 teachers very ill this morning and can not teach today .Breakfast 7am, 8am off to Yoko 1, where the sewing program was being held. Christine Sandra and I took the course for the whole day concentrating on teaching the ladies how to use the machine. Very successful day, ending with corded buttonholes and sewing on elastic.
Teachers back on deck, and the program moving nicely into measuring and cutting out their first skirt. In the morning I went down to another building and taught the Scout some knots. It was very much appreciated. The Scouts have nothing, not uniforms, no books, no equipment. Scouts in name only. The day was interrupted around 1.30pm with a civil unrest that happened in our immediate precinct. A huge crowd pushed thru the security gate, there was much shouting and someone was shot. All types of security and police came and shot teargas into the crowd and they also brought the dogs. We shut all the gates and locked the doors and all laid low. Rocks were thrown onto our roof- it was rather scary. As soon as it was more or less over Kelly came and said we must leave immediately, which we did. In the evening back at the Mountain Lodge I met with Dennis Hoof .from IPI and talked about how safe we might be at the Mountain Lodge and then Allison Davis came from PJV (Mine Company) and told us that tomorrow we are being moved to the Admin building inside the mine complex. I also spoke briefly with Tim Ordambo who is charge of PJV community affairs.
Incident at Yoki 1, Later we found out some people from Tari - a neighbouring area had found a man dead outside the mine fence and they came to put the body on the mine's community affairs office desk. But fighting broke out and they damaged several part of the building. There were several hundred people involved and they say it was one of the worst incidents for some time. The police and other security came and shop teargas into the crowd and guns into the air, and the crowd of people ran away. (See official Barrick Mine statement)
I was to be picked up for an 8.30 meeting with Tim, but no one came to pick me up. Then a phone call from Allison to say a 20 seater bus will come and pick us up at 9.30am and take us to the Admin building where we will be using the conference room or the training room.
Trip to Wabag. Up at 6am and the bus came at 7am and we went up to Piam village and waiting for the Police escort to come. We travelled in a Toyota 14 seater van and the police 4WD followed us all the 3 hours down and 3 hours back. We drove thru mountains and down thru some farm villages (all very poor) and it rained on an off all the way. There seemed to be no reason to have the police escort but it was nice to know they were there. We went to visit a new Cultural Museum down in Wabag. It was a good museum showing the cultural history of the Enga province. After the museum we did a very brief drive around the small town area (a mess like Porgera) and then a very brief stop at the Provincial Government building which was the only decent building in the town, and then back on the road again for the 3 hour drive back to Porgera arriving at 5pm.
In the morning we went to a CBC church and Christine gave a talk about Rotary but we really didn't get to see a church service or hear the singing. Then we walked thru the markets in the Porgera Station and looked at the individual markets which are about 3 x 3 metre and only cost K4.00 per day. Most are selling second hand clothes with some new mixed in. The market stall holders buy all the clothes in one job lot for about K600.00. Then we also looked at Meri dresses with skirts sewn by local women, very rough, both child's and adults selling for K30 to K50 The child's selling at $30 had only about a metre of fabric at K6 cost. Then we went back to the sewing room for the afternoon and then at night we went to Suyan Village for dinner and what a great meal they put on up there- huge selection. Wish we were eating there every day as the food here at the Mountain lodge is very basic.
Picked up late at 8.30. We had a big day in the sewing room all day. That damn Janome that had the problem with the tension release nearly drove me mad. I finally fixed it by tying the lever in place with some shirring elastic! I also fixed Maria's own Singer and the Women's Association overlocker. The ladies finished their skirts and started on their meri dresses. One of the students Susan had a tough day. She has Malaria and Typhoid and spent some time at the doctors. Then we went back to the Mountain Lodge and had a planning talk for the rest of the week.
Big day at the sewing class. The ladies well into their Meri Dress. Five ladies finished their Meri dress by mid afternoon and the quality of these was excellent. At lunch break we gave them a questionnaire prepared by Pauline. Then at lunch time Alison and Brian took us up to the Heli pad in a bus and we walked back down. From the Helipad there is a great view of Porgera. After lunch I had a talk to the ladies regarding the micro loans program. The sewing room is well set up now. A new extension cord allowed me to set all the power boards on the tables instead of underneath and this meant they did not have to be disassembled in the evening for sweeping .In the afternoon Christine and I had a good talk with Ken Egan who is in charge of Community Development. We discussed many things including:
Sewing class started with a little disturbance when Elizabeth was unhappy that she was not one of the 5 chosen to make the men's shirt today. Five will do the men's shirt and the others will make a child's long leg pants. Then Christine and Sandra and I went and visited the HIV centre where they do an instant check for HIV and also Malaria, but no patients there today and looked underutilized. Their books showed they tested about 120 patients a month, and 3 or 4 found to be positive.
Then to the Porgera Station health centre where they treat minor problems free, but almost no patients there today and they said their outreach medical people were not doing much at the moment due to the fighting in the different areas.
Then to the Vocational Centre where they had nice building but little equipment - a lot of equipment was stolen. Teachers were away today in Wabag getting some supplies, and there seemed to be little happening other than volley ball. We were a bit surprised to see the fees for students are K350 a quarter. In the computer class they had 10 students enrolled but only 3 or 4 seemed to be there today. They have only two computers to teach from. The welding class had 9 students which included two girls but they had almost no materials or equipment - only one electric welding machine that wasn't visible?
Another big day at the sewing room. Except for a 9.15 briefing in the Board Room with Mine Manager Tim Omundsen for 30 minutes I never left the sewing room. Ladies brought in a lot of machine to repair.
Nice late start and finally picked up just after 10am We were taken up to Piam where we were then escorted on foot down a lane by a wonderful kids band, all in native dress and playing drums they all made themselves. Their drumming was fantastic as was the leader with his baton. Then we arrived at the High School with some 1,000 people there waiting for us. We eventually made it thru the crowd and up onto the veranda. Then followed a huge line of speakers, including me and Christine but we kept ours brief as the kids had to wait thru all these repetitive speeches thanking us, Rotary and PJV.
Then we went down into the crowd and watched a number of performances by the different school groups, which were excellent. Then came the presentation of certificates to our students followed by them giving us a lot of presents- mostly billum bags and hats.
Then the rock band started to play and they played "I come from a land down Under", plus a song made especially for the thanks to Rotary. The band is led by Macdonald who is Kelly's son said to be just 13 but looks and acts like 30!!!
Then Christine went down and danced in the crowd and got everyone excited.
It truly was a very interesting event and quite moving.
We were picked up at 8.30 instead of 8am- which gave us a late start. However when we arrived at the sewing room we all got stuck into the final session and actually managed to down tools at 11am so that we could be fully packed up by 12 noon- as the training room had been booked for others at 1pm. The ladies finished off projects and the teachers also demonstrated inserting a zip. The distribution of the machines was completed as were the contract.
We ended up 3 machines short which we now have to find 3 or more in Sydney and send them up- in the meantime they are using the Women's Association's Singer 1507 machines. I spent the morning with the two mechanic trainees, Roslyn and Andrew and together we fixed a couple of machines with big problems. At 12noon the sewing program was all over and there were tears and hugs.
In the afternoon we were to go to Wiley Creek in the mountains ( 12,000 ft ) and although Christine organised for the chief of Police to give us an escort , the mines would not give us a safety clearance as there had been another incidence of a family ( man women and child ) getting chopped up in that area just recently. So we went to the Piam market, then to the kids' soccer, then back to the Mountain Lodge where I caught up with a lot of work on my computer. Late afternoon Kelly's wife and daughter came and taught the ladies to make the Billum weaving. Then Wesley and the cooks put on a special meal for us. It was to be sea food, but the sea food didn't arrive.
Last Day. We went in the morning to The Catholic Church in Piam. It was a 2 hour service. There were over 200 in the Church and they did a lot of singing which was very nice. Then after we visited the Pian market again briefly we began to hear from Kelly and the driver that some of us had been "bumped off "tomorrow's flight home just like we were on the way up. Then after lunch we had a meeting with Ken Egan and he explained that they had talked to the mine Manager and come up with some alternatives for us. Three or four could go by helicopter to Mt Hagen then by Commercial flight to Port Moresby and then commercial flight to Cairns. The other four could catch a morning charter on the Twin Otter to Hagen and the normal Dash charter flight to Cairns. Christine wanted to go to Port Moresby and so Sandra and I said we would stay with the girls going on the Charter flights.
I would like to sincerely thank our teachers, Roberta Shaw, Patti Klaassen, Judy Davidson, Lorelle Calvert, and Barbara Hall, who all did the most fantastic job. Thanks also to Sandra who helped such a lot and to Pauline Fenech of Cairns who did such a brilliant job in preparing the sewing program and as well as looking after us in Cairns. And of course, many many thanks to Christine McCormack who made it all possible.
It was certainly a different Sew+aid experience but I think we all enjoyed it. It will certainly be something to talk about for along time!
The teachers all wearing their Meri dress that the students made for them
Tony Castley
Here are some of the photo's we took while in PNG.
Do hope you are all home safely and enjoying this wonderful country we live in. Our experiences of the past couple of weeks certainly makes one appreciate what we have here in Australia. I get annoyed when all the politicians keep saying "we need to make Australia better", we don't, we are already living at a standard incomparable with over half the worlds population. But it is about time we doubled our aid to third World countries for as you may know the Millennium Accord which Australia signed in 2000, said we would increase our aid to .7% of GDP, however 10 years later we are only giving about .4% !!
Here is my report and just a couple of the first photos. Please let me have your photos and reports when you get a chance.
Download Porgera 2010 report (354KB .doc file)
Unfortunately the team to Porgera PNG has been restricted to five teachers, due to the fact that is maximum number of seats that are available on the mining company's plane around that time. I do sincerely thank all the teachers who have applied for this program, however we will be visiting Porgera again as well as other programs in PNG, so rest assured I have you all listed for the next program.
The final team is now:The dates for Porgera have changed slightly and now we leave Cairns at 4am on the Saturday 21st of August and we return on the Sunday 5th of September.
All team members please down load these Rotary Forms and get them filled in and posted off to Rotary District 9680, 7 Sefton Rd, Thornleigh NSW 2120, attention Christine Mc Cormack. Any questions just give me a call, or call Christine directly on 0408 619 576
Pauline Fenech unfortunately cannot join us on this trip, however she has kindly offered to prepare the entire teaching program. Pauline has actually set up two sewing workshops in PNG previously and understands well the type of clothing and the best teaching methods for this area. Pauline will be in touch with all teachers and she will be asking you to prepare certain samples etc as we have done in the past. Pauline will especially work closely with Lorelle as Lorelle being the only teacher within driving distance of Sydney, Lorelle is kindly helping me prepare all the sewing kits.
Last Tuesday Lorelle came down from Morisset and helped me start the pack up at SSS. The machines and fabric and accessories etc all have to be shipped off next month. We made a good start, but there is still a lot to do, and we will have another go at it soon.
We have some new machines donated by Husqvana and Janome are helping us with some fully serviced as new second hand Janome machine. In addition Christine already has some Singer model 1507 machine up there ready for the program. All these machines are portable electric with a small range of utility and decorative stitches , as well as auto button hole and such like.
We are short of fabrics so far. We need 100% cotton prints for dresses and the like . Floral prints especially. If anyone has some 2 metre plus pieces and would like to donate them, please let us know.
Thanks
Tony Castley
Sewaid
02 4384 3988
The following teachers have indicated that they would particularly like to be a member of this upcoming trip to Porgera in PNG. For others who have responded saying they would like to be part of a team going to other countries or at other times, we have recorded your information. If we have missed anyone on the list below, please let us know immediately on info@sewaid.com
Preliminary Team for PNG August 2010:
Naturally it is impossible to teach persons who have barely sewn at all, all the above, so I suggest we might teach in groups - dresses to one group, repairs to another and see how we go. I urgently need someone to plan and co-orindinate the teaching program. Then we will break the projects up amongst the teachers , and everyone can then prepare their own teaching program. I will have more information for you shortly, however first and foremost please confirm that you want to go on this PNG trip and that the dates above suit you OK. This trip is shaping up to be very interesting, and I am sure as in past it will be a life changing experience. Best regards |
We have been asked to run a program at Porgera in the highlands of Papua New Guinea. The program will be organised at the local level by Christine McCormack of the Rotary Club of Dee Why Warringah. Christine has been working on community programs in Porgera for some years and she would travel with the Sewaid group and organise all matters concerning flights, accommodation food etc. We would expect to teach sewing to around 10 to 15 ladies (as we have done before) and ideally we need a team of 3 to 5 teachers for say a 10-14 day visit.
Porgera is in the highlands and is situated adjacent to the Barrack Gold Mine. The gold mine assists our Rotary projects in the area very strongly and we expect that they may assist with some airfares and some accommodation. Porgera is a town of around 50,000 residents, in the mountains where it is not too hot and where there are no malaria mosquitoes. Motel type accommodation is available with all the on-site arrangements to be organised for us by the Rotarians and the local community. Porgera is a very interesting and colourful community.
Papua New Guinea map with Porgera marked
A glimpse of their colourful culture
The Barrack Gold Mine
A View of Porgera from above
What clothes will be made and exactly what will taught is yet unknown as we are waiting for further information. But for women the basic dress is a long skirt and a top with traditional puff sleeves.
The likely date is September 2010 and cost is unknown as yet but most likely to be somewhere between $1,000 to $2,000 per volunteer.
If you are interested in joining either of these tours as a volunteer, please let us know either by email via info@sewaid.com or by calling our director Tony Castley on 0414 801 888.
Alternatively please fill in and submit the volunteer information form, found under the Volunteer Teachers section.
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