Snapshot: CARE’s work in Simbari, PNG

by CARE Australia -
Papua New Guinea

by Laura Dunens, Digital Specialist, CARE Australia

Last month, I was fortunate to travel with CARE to visit our projects in the very remote village of Simbari in the Eastern Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea (PNG).

I was greeted by smiling faces wherever I went and, over the course of speaking with a multitude of people, heard incredible stories of suffering and resilience.

Here are some of the amazing people CARE works with, all of whom I feel incredibly lucky to have met:

Skaila

Skaila
Skaila is a mother of three, a CARE-trained maternal health volunteer (MHV) and the female representative for the local Ward Development Committee. Her main source of income is growing coffee. To sell her coffee at market in town, she must make a dangerous and backbreaking six-day return journey through the mountains. ©Tom Greenwood/CARE

Eve

Eve
Eve is the only female magistrate in Simbari. She says it’s important to have a female in the village court system, which CARE helped to establish, so other women feel comfortable coming forward with their problems. ©Tom Greenwood/CARE

Jenny

Jenny
Jenny’s closest health facility is a gruelling six-hour trek away, weaving up and down mountainous tracks and crossing rivers. Because of the strenuous trek, Jenny gave birth to one of her children on the track, in the jungle. In the wet season, a large river used to sometimes prevent her from making the trip. Earlier this year, with the help of the community and funds from local government, CARE built a 78-meter sturdy footbridge, making the journey from Jenny’s village to the health facility much safer. ©Tom Greenwood/CARE

Lolas

Lolas
After seeing the success families in a nearby village were having with CARE-supported fish farms, Lolas took it upon himself to build his own. He breeds the fish to sell, and is now the proud owner of nine fish ponds. His family can now eat protein regularly instead of buying expensive tinned fish, and spend their extra money on tools and clothes for the family. ©Tom Greenwood/CARE

Lima

Lima
Lima is a CARE-trained maternal health volunteer (MHV) who has delivered over 100 babies. Lima says that in the past, lots of women gave birth in their village because they were scared to see the male medical staff. Now, with the help of female MHVs, more women are giving birth at the health facility and accessing antenatal care. ©Tom Greenwood/CARE

Learn more about CARE’s work in PNG

We put women and girls at the heart of our work. CARE Australia is a leading international aid organisation that works around the globe to save lives and defeat poverty.

We put women and girls at the heart of our work.

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