2000 Miles for PNG Women

I'm walking the Te Araroa Trail from mid-August, raising awareness and funds for Roar4PNG to fund a women's refuge in Kokopo, Papua New Guinea. I spent the last year and a half on a Volunteer Service Abroad (VSA) assignment in Papua New Guinea, and found myself still wanting to give back upon returning to New Zealand. I am self-funding my own travel, meaning all funds raised here will go to Roar4PNG, and the women's refuge project, and am hoping to complete the whole journey within 4 months.

Roar4PNG is a small non-for-profit organisation that provides connections in crisis for survivors of family, sexual, and gender based violence. and is incredibly important in a country where an estimated two thirds of women will suffer some form of domestic abuse across their lifetime.

At approximately 2000 miles long, Te Araroa trail is New Zealand's longest trail, spanning the length of the country from Cape Rienga to the Bluff. The length and diversity of the trail means that it is as much a mental challenge as it is a physical one, with terrains ranging from state highways, to deep forests, to vast mountain ranges.

In partnership with the Catholic Archdiocese of Rabaul, the FMI Sisters' Convent, FSVAC (Family and Sexual Violence Action Committee, and VSA, plans have been put in place to establish a women's refuge in Kokopo. Although land has been set aside and plans drawn up, the project is still lacking the funding to allow construction to begin. This is where we need your help to get this project off the ground. Whether through financial or moral support, I would appreciate if you share my journey with as many people as possible so that together we can make a real difference to people in very real situations.