“The Library Books Donation was my dad, Miri Areori’s plan and so my family and I in honor of him started off the Karama Primary School Book Drive Initiative.” “My dad saw that Karama Primary School back in our village really needed good educational facilities most importantly a library for the students.” “Sadly, my dad passed away early this year and could not see alot of his project come through,” said Ms Alice Areori. Karama Primary School is located in remote Kerema, Gulf Province and according to statistics collected by the late Miri Areori, the rate of grade 8 students making it into high school was very low. Students don’t have a library to help them with their learning as well as their literacy level. Miss Areori said that a Senior Teacher from the school who teaches English across Elementary to Grade 8 stated that it is very difficult to teach the children without resources like books as most children living in the village use their mother tongue and the transition from their mother tongue to learning how to speak English is quite difficult. She added that all the books were donated by individuals and organizations and a total of 13 cartons of books have been delivered to the school. Transporting the books to the school was made possible by the Kokoda Track Foundation as part of her scholarship benefits where recipients of the KTF Scholarships are given K2000 for a mini project in the recipient’s communities. The Book Drive was Areori’s project so the money they donated was used to hire the vehicle to bring the books to Karama. Areori further added that this is not the end of book donations as they hope to get as many books for Karama Primary School and hopefully slowly start building a mini library for the school.

Hope for Poor Kids Care Inc. has received a surprised early Christmas visit from the Bank of South Pacific (BSP) with the donation of foods and supplies worth K3, 000 last week. More than five hundred (500) homeless kids and orphans accommodated at the centre would benefit from the food donation by BSP who visited the centre last week Wednesday. The food supply would keep the children going during the Christmas period. BSP Corporate Sponsorship Manager Ms. Amelia Minnopu said BSP as a community and people’s bank was pleased to give back to the community and assist children currently under the care of Hope For Poor Kids Care Inc. in Port Moresby care centres. “Community and people are among our core values and we hope our donation will positively assist the children at the care centre,” Ms. Minnopu said. Hope for Poor Kids Care Inc. Chairman Mr. Martin Piason thanked BSP for the timely and generous support and said the organization’s greatest fear was challenges associated with COVID-19 affecting its operations. However, Mr. Piason added, “Kind gestures from the business communities and other departments – whether in cash or in kind, encourages us and helps us in our daily operations.” “I would like to thank BSP for the timely donation and as an early Christmas present to our kids,” He said. “It is a challenging time for many but we appreciate you for having the heart for the less fortunate children and assisting us through such donations. Hope for Poor Kids Care Inc. is a care centre that caters for more than 500 Orphans and displaced children in 5 locations here in the Nation’s capital by providing food and shelter as well as education under its “Strengthen the Children’ project. For donation purposes, Please contact the Hope for Poor Kids Care Inc. Chairman Mr. Martin Piason on phone +675 72115657 or email fnrepng@gmail.com

Tiger Woods will go down as an all-time golf legend but at the PNC Championship, it wasn’t the five-time Masters winner who had his name up in lights. Instead, it was his 12-year-old son Charlie. The youngster went viral over the weekend for his cheeky gesture after sinking a putt on the practice green and on the final day of the tournament at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club in Orlando, Charlie’s freakish ability sent the sporting world into a frenzy. In the final 12 holes for Team Woods, 11 of them were birdies and one was a par as the dynamic duo shot a 15-under 57 for the round. Fans were quick to hail young Charlie for how cool he was under pressure, while others were simply in disbelief at the scary potential of Woods’ protégé. Barstool Sports writer Eric Hubbs wrote: “Straight up nonsense what Charlie Woods is doing to this golf course.” Premier League star Declan Rice tweeted: “Charlie Woods is ridiculous. So good to watch.” Golf digest writer Dan Rapaport posted: “Charlie Woods hasn’t smiled in like an hour. Just hit a butter cut 4 iron to 4 feet and holed it from the back tees. Did not acknowledge any of the people yelling his name as he walked to the next tee. Tunnel vision. Apple, meet tree.” [caption id="attachment_17765" align="aligncenter" width="650"] Like father, like son. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)[/caption] Bleacher Report writer Adam Kramer said: “Charlie Woods is a machine. This is magic to watch.” NESN sports reporter George Balekji wrote: “It’s not just disgusting how good Charlie Woods is at golf at just 12 years old but also how much swagger this kid has. We ain’t s***.” Author Christian Schneider posted: “Charlie Woods’ round today is one of the most incredible things I’ve seen. 12 years old and hitting better shots than 20-year PGA pros.” While the world fawned over Charlie’s golfing ability, it was ultimately not enough as Team Woods came second in the PNC Championship. The tournament was won by cult hero John Daly and his son John Daly II, with the duo shooting a final round 57 to finish two strokes ahead of Team Woods across the two-round tournament. A weary Woods, who almost needed to have his shattered right leg amputated after a car crash in Los Angeles in February, said afterwards he was simply grateful to be playing again. “I’m just happy and thankful that I’m able to do this,” Woods told NBC television. “I still have my own leg, which was questionable for a while, and it’s functioning. I’m just really tired — I’m not used to this. “I think this might be only my fourth or fifth round of golf this year. I’m a little worn out. It was nice to have a cart.” Woods said he and his son had set a pre-tournament target of playing two bogey-free rounds, which they achieved. “Our whole goal for the two days was don’t make any bogeys - last year we made two - and we didn’t make any,” Woods said. “We felt we’d have to birdie every hole on the back nine to have a chance. It got interesting and a little tight towards the end, which was fun.” SOURCE: FOX SPORTS

President Joe Biden on Friday dug into Republican opposition to advancing federal voting rights legislation during a commencement address at South Carolina State University. His remarks came ahead of a renewed push on voting rights, even as he acknowledged Thursday night that another major legislative priority of his administration, the Build Back Better social spending bill, will need to wait until 2022. "I've never seen anything like the unrelenting assault on the right to vote. Never," Biden said Friday during his address to the graduates. Showing some clear frustration, Biden said, "We have to protect that sacred right to vote, for God's sake." The president mentioned his key role in getting an extension of the original Voting Rights Act passed with bipartisan support in 1982, saying that at the time he thought the nation was "finally beginning to move." "But this new sinister combination of voter suppression and election subversion, it's un-American, it's undemocratic, and sadly, it is unprecedented since Reconstruction," he said. He said his administration has supported Democratic efforts to reform voting rights since "day one" and that there is "unanimous support" within the party, but with the filibuster in Congress blocking its efforts, Biden again criticized Republicans for not even wanting to debate voting rights legislation. [caption id="attachment_17758" align="aligncenter" width="914"] Picture: Carolyn Kaster/APPresident Joe Biden delivers the keynote address at the South Carolina State University's 2021 Fall Commencement Ceremony in Orangeburg, S.C., Dec. 17, 2021.[/caption] "But each and every time it gets to be brought up, that other team blocks the ability even to start to discuss it. That other team -- it used to be called the Republican Party. But this battle is not over. We must pass the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. We must!" Biden said. Earlier this year, Biden expressed support for altering filibuster rules to pass voting rights legislation, but he did not make the same call Friday. The president also focused on "hate and racism" in his remarks. There is currently a "reckoning on race not seen since the 50s and 60s," he said, adding that the graduates are entering a "tumultuous and consequential moment in modern American history." He pointed to the Orangeburg, South Carolina, massacre of 1968, when police shot three men during civil rights protests, and the mass shooting at Mother Emmanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015. He said there was a "through-line" of hate and racism that extended to the 2017 white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Those marchers were "carrying torches and Nazi banners, screeching [the] most antisemitic and anti-Black rhetoric in history," Biden said. Referencing former President Donald Trump, he said that "when asked what he thought about it, Trump said, 'well there's some very good people there.'" "Hell very good people! They're racist, they're fascist," Biden said. [caption id="attachment_17759" align="aligncenter" width="928"] Picture: Meg Kinnard/APHouse Majority Whip Jim Clyburn looks on as President Joe Biden receives an honorary degree after speaking at South Carolina State University's 2021 Fall Commencement Ceremony in Orangeburg, S.C., Dec. 17, 2021.[/caption] Biden also invoked the Jan. 6 insurrection on the U.S. Capitol, saying that he gets asked by world leaders, "Is America going to be alright" after witnessing those scenes play out. After his speech, Biden was presented with an honorary doctorate from the university. The university also gave a degree to Rep. Jim Clyburn, a Democrat representing South Carolina. Clyburn graduated from South Carolina State University in December 1961 but only received his diploma by mail and did not walk across the aisle until Friday's ceremony. [caption id="attachment_17760" align="alignnone" width="939"] Picture: Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty ImagesUS Representative Jim Clyburn, President Joe Biden and Interim South Carolina State University President, Alexander Conyers, arrive for the university's graduation ceremony in Orangeburg, S.C., Dec. 17, 2021.[/caption] In remarks before Biden spoke, Clyburn told the audience about how his late wife, Emily Clyburn, who he met after they were both jailed for civil rights demonstrations while students at the university, encouraged him to support President Joe Biden in the 2016 Democratic primary. "Not long before she passed away a little over two years ago, she said to me: If we want to succeed in this upcoming election, we'd better nominate Joe Biden," Clyburn said. "She passed away before the South Carolina primary, but what she said to me in that night stayed on my mind… And I followed her directions, just I had for the fifty-eight years that we were married." Clyburn's endorsement of Biden in 2020 is credited as a deciding factor in helping him clinch the presidency. SOURCE: ABC NEWS

The major sponsor for match officials of the Papua New Guinea Rugby Football League (PNGRFL) has condemned the violence against referees and touch judges last weekend. Motor Vehicles Insurance Limited (MVIL) denounced the violence and called on PNGRFL to take appropriate actions in imposing strict penalties on those involved in humiliating the standard of rugby league in the country. MVIL Managing Director, Mr. Michael Makap, said first and foremost, the match officials are human beings who deserve to be treated with decency and respect. They play a crucial role in ensuring that the game is played in a spirit of good competition and fairness. Secondly, the match officials who were assaulted in this PNGRFL-sanctioned match had MVIL-branded uniforms on. Hence, the attack on the officials is an indirect attack on MVIL. “Those referees and touch judges who were assaulted were wearing MVIL-branded uniforms. It is an unpleasant thing to see in the print media, on television and on social media. MVIL is against all forms of violence,” he said. “I mentioned during my opening speech before the 2021 Digicel Cup Grand Final Match that MVIL will not tolerate any form of violence against match officials. I condemn such behaviour in the strongest possible terms as a sponsor and avid supporter of the sport.” Mr. Makap has formally written to the PNGRFL to provide a written response on how the organisation is handling the matter and its strategies to protect match officials in future matches. He further added that the rugby league body should impose life bans on those involved to show that there is no place for violence in this sport as well as a stark reminder to those taking part in the league. MVIL stands together with PNGRFL match officials against this senseless behaviour. The company will reconsider its future sponsorship.

It was a forlorn hope, perhaps, but after a second year of pandemic-era monotony — pat your pocket for a mask; yep, there's the QR code; ooh, the text says we've got another parcel coming soon — a few of us had hoped the Ashes might occasionally offer something exciting and unexpected. Maybe exciting wasn't the word for it, but on day three in Adelaide, it was certainly novel that England went the entire first session without losing a wicket. Joe Root and Dawid Malan, their country's first and last batting defence in this series, put on 123 runs in 32 overs. And it was not just that England played well, it was that Australia didn't. Shorn of the best fast bowling combination in cricket, Australia was learning that the excellence of Jhye Richardson and Michael Neser is not quite the same as the outright brilliance of generational quicks. Every second over, it seemed, there was a boundary-ball. Singles were easily accumulated. The pink ball softened. And wasn't this pitch meant to take spin? What happened after lunch — combined with the British media's depressed chuntering of the last 24 hours, which suggested the tourists' performances this summer are actually the result of years of meticulous planning — showed that comedy remains England's great cultural export. Cameron Green, who Australia picks mainly to bat, dismissed world-beater Root for the second time in three innings. From a relaxed 2-150, England fell apart like Nigella Lawson's aromatic lamb shank stew. The paltry score of 236 was one thing, England's rolling out of the greatest hits another. Like so often, one brought two (and then many more) when Malan departed for 80. Faced with a crisis, Jos Buttler brought his usual gung-ho-no-matter-the-stakes batting. To go with his sketchy keeping, it's made him as useful as a chocolate teapot in this game. Again, Ollie Pope did everything in fast-forward and was hopelessly undone by spin, looking more and more like a bunny for Nathan Lyon. Again, England was revealed as a team with three No.11's. And again, as he'd done with the ball, Ben Stokes was left to restore some sense of national pride, although he was so stiff and sore he could barely play shots. The respective home-team advantages being what they are, we have come to expect a competitive imbalance in the Ashes. But this one is really testing the theory that Australians don't care for even contests when England is down and out. It's over. Green swings momentum Australia's way A hallmark of the top Test sides is not putting in two bad sessions on the trot, a metric by which Australia fared well. In the second session, 4-57 from 30 overs was a faultless recovery from the morning and the momentum kept rolling. Already a dominant presence in this game with the bat, Steve Smith pulled off a tactical masterstroke after Root's departure. Common sense said keep Green on — he was troubling the new man Stokes, too. But to murmurings all over the country, Smith replaced him with Starc. Immediately Starc removed Malan. For all the pre-game excitement about Neser and Richardson, the biggest ticks were for Starc, Lyon and Green, who accounted for nine of the wickets. After forcing a collapse of 8-74 in the second innings of the first Test, Australia rammed home its advantage with 8-86 here. Green proved the great upside to being an all-rounder, banishing thoughts of his batting struggles with two subtly aggressive spells of genuinely fast bowling. You wouldn't call it mongrel, but Green has revealed that he has a few more gears than his first summer of Test bowling suggested. He is a momentum-changer. Lyon turned the ball square, taking 3-58 from 28 probing overs that kept the quicks fresh. "Can SOMEONE please smack Lyon?!?!! FFS!" Kevin Pietersen had tweeted at one point. "Off spinner with zero variations and bowling on world crickets flattest road!!!!" (Sorry, but if we began to fix the grammar and punctuation, where would it end?) If remotely true, of course, Pietersen's diss could be read as a more scathing review of England's performance. And are variations even needed against this lot? Chris Woakes can handle himself with the bat. Lyon made him look like a synthetic-wicket slogger. The bigger boon for Australia was Starc, the recipient of more than a few scathing reviews over the years. He rose impressively to the challenge provided by the contenders for his spot, taking four wickets with fast spells full of attitude. Neser was tidy, Richardson uncharacteristically loose, if a little unlucky. There is nothing unlucky about England's bleak prospects. At the end of the day, Smith could have enforced the follow-on and made things really ugly. Instead he batted again, which opens up the possibility of a fifth day of this very dreary contest. Thanks for that, skip. SOURCE: ABC NEWS

Hong Kong holds elections for the city’s legislature on Sunday — the first for the Legislative Council since the central government in Beijing led an overhaul of Hong Kong’s electoral process this year. An analyst who spoke to CNBC predicted less interest in the polls this time, because those electoral changes have “narrowed” the choices for voters. The amendments that were introduced as part of the electoral overhaul mean there will be fewer directly elected representatives, and more Beijing-approved officials. Kurt Tong, partner at The Asia Group, expects voter turnout at the polls to be “rather low.” “Really the choices are quite narrowed for voters, and as a result, I would expect the voter turnout to be rather low,” he told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” on Friday. “The character of the election has changed significantly from five years ago where there was really a sense that the legislative council election could have a major impact on the direction of the governance of the city. And that just doesn’t seem to be the case now,” Tong added. Under the new electoral system, the total number of seats in the legislative has been increased from 70 to 90. But the number of directly elected representatives has shrunk. Previously, half the Council’s representatives were directly elected by regular Hong Kongers. Under the new rules, about a fifth of them will be. An Election Committee that previously held only limited powers will now hand-pick almost half the Council’s representatives outright, and screen anyone who wants to run for the other seats. Criticism of process Democracy advocates and Western governments have accused China of using the new rules to suppress political opposition. Hong Kong’s “radical” electoral changes “mean that parties not closely aligned with the mainland or that are not pro-establishment will be excluded almost entirely from the legislature,” UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said on Dec. 14. Leaders in Beijing and Hong Kong openly say the new system is designed to ensure that only “patriots” hold office in Hong Kong. But they’ve rejected outside criticism of the electoral changes, which they characterize as fruitless interference in domestic affairs. Henry Tang, standing committee member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, argued to CNBC on Friday that the electoral changes are a step forward for democracy. The CPPCC is China’s top political advisory body. He was responding to a question on whether Hong Kong has lost some autonomy, with the decreased number of directly elected seats. “I would say that the democratic progress in Hong Kong has moved one further step forward,” the former Hong Kong chief secretary for administration told “Street Signs Asia” on Friday. “Because first, we have 90 members of the Legislative Council, instead of the previous 70. The composition has changed because we want more diversity and more inclusiveness.” Tang, who was also the former financial secretary of Hong Kong, explained that the candidates comprise individuals from “many different backgrounds.” SOURCE: CNBC NEWS

The future of bitcoin is anyone’s guess, but one academic has warned that the world’s most popular cryptocurrency could fade out in the near future. Eswar Prasad, senior professor of international trade policy at Cornell University, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” earlier this month: “Bitcoin itself may not last that much longer.” Bitcoin’s price has been highly volatile over the last few years and in the last month the price of one coin has fallen from around $58,000 to less than $46,000. At 10:15 a.m. ET on Friday, the price of a bitcoin was $45,637. While there used to be just a few cryptocurrencies, today there are hundreds and some of them are more useful and more environmentally-friendly than bitcoin. Blockchain is the underlying technology behind most cryptocurrencies. It’s essentially a digital ledger of virtual currency transactions which is distributed across a global network of computers. “Bitcoin’s use of the blockchain technology is not very efficient,” said Prasad, who is the author of ’“The Future of Money: How the Digital Revolution is Transforming Currencies and Finance.” The cryptocurrency “uses a validation mechanism for transactions that is environmentally destructive” and “doesn’t scale up very well,” he explained. Indeed, bitcoin’s carbon footprint is bigger than the whole of New Zealand. Prasad said some of the newer cryptocurrencies use blockchain technology far more efficiently than bitcoin does. He believes blockchain technology will be “fundamentally transformative” in the way that finance is done and in the way we conduct our day-to-day transactions, like buying a house or buying a car. “Given that bitcoin is not serving well as a medium of exchange, I don’t think it’s going to have any fundamental value other than whatever investor’s faith leads it to have,” Prasad said. More generally, cryptocurrencies have “lit a fire under central banks to start thinking about issuing digital versions of their own currencies,” Prasad said. He added that such digital currencies could be beneficial as they may provide a low-cost payment option that everyone has access to, thereby increasing financial inclusion and potentially financial stability. “Much as you might not like bitcoin, it has really set off a revolution that ultimately might benefit all of us either directly or indirectly,” Prasad said. SOURCE: CNBC NEWS

The Biden administration said Thursday it imposed trade restrictions on more than 30 Chinese research institutes and entities over human rights violations and the alleged development of technologies, such as brain-control weapons, that undermine U.S. national security. The Commerce Department accused China’s Academy of Military Medical Sciences and 11 of its research institutes of using biotechnology “to support Chinese military end uses and end users, to include purported brain-control weaponry,” according to a notice in the Federal Register. The notice does not elaborate further on the alleged brain-control weaponry. “The scientific pursuit of biotechnology and medical innovation can save lives. Unfortunately, the PRC is choosing to use these technologies to pursue control over its people and its repression of members of ethnic and religious minority groups,” U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo wrote in a statement referring to the People’s Republic of China and human rights abuses in China’s far-west region of Xinjiang. The State Department has previously described the abuse of Uyghurs and members of other Muslim minorities as in the Xinjiang region as “widespread, state-sponsored forced labor” and “mass detention.” Earlier this month, the White House announced a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, citing “ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang and other human rights abuses.” Beijing denies that it has abused religious and ethnic minorities in Xinjiang. The Commerce Department listed four additional Chinese corporations to its Entity List for their role in modernizing China’s military, which runs contrary to U.S. national security and foreign policy interests. The department also added five other Chinese companies for allegedly “acquiring or attempting to acquire technology from the United States to help modernize the People’s Liberation Army.” U.S. officials have long complained that Chinese intellectual property theft has cost the economy billions of dollars in revenue and thousands of jobs. They have also said that it threatens national security. Meanwhile, Beijing maintains that it does not engage in intellectual property theft. Later Thursday, the Treasury Department announced sanctions on eight Chinese tech entities for “biometric surveillance and tracking of ethnic and religious minorities in China, particularly the predominantly Muslim Uyghur minority in Xinjiang.” The entities cited by Treasury are: Cloudwalk Technology, Dawning Information Industry, Leon Technology Company, Megvii Technology, Netposa Technologies , SZ DJI Technology, Xiamen Meiya Pico Information and Yitu. The Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., dismissed the U.S. moves as “unwarranted suppression” of Chinese entities. “The facts and truth on Xinjiang-related issues are very clear. China’s development of biotechnology has always been for the well-being of mankind. The relevant claims of the US side are totally groundless,” embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu said in a statement provided to CNBC. The Commerce Department also took action against entities located in Georgia, Malaysia and Turkey for allegedly “diverting or attempting to divert U.S. items to Iran’s military programs.” “Specifically, these entities are a part of a network used to supply or attempt to supply Iran with U.S-origin items that would ultimately provide material support to Iran’s defense industries, in violation of U.S. export controls,” the notice said. In total, the Commerce Department took action against 34 entities in China, three in Georgia, one in Malaysia and two in Turkey. SOURCE: CNBC NEWS

Well over 2000 Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have applied for loans under the National Government supported loan facility, the SME Credit Enhancement Scheme Loan (SME CESL) through BSP Financial Group Limited (BSP) with over K115m funded as at 15th December 2021. Of the 2100 SMEs that have applied for loans through the SME CESL facility, over 50% have been successful, with close to 30% of loans in the application stage and 20% have been declined through the Bank’s normal credit assessment process, according to BSP Group CEO Mr Robin Fleming. Mr Fleming added that BSP Financial Group Limited has continued to fund loans using its own funds under the SME CESL facility despite exceeding the K100m support funding provided by the National Government. “BSP continues to lend through the festive period to our SMEs and we are able to do this with run-offs from funded loans and by maintaining loan delinquencies within the Bank’s delinquency thresholds,” said Mr Fleming. “The festive period has been hectic so far with an increased number of applications coming through, and already we have over K90m in value from applications under processing, as the numbers pick up from all around our regions and the three SME Business Centres in Lae, Goroka and Vision City in Port Moresby,” said Jeffrey Singer Head of SME BSP. Mr Singer added that BSP was able to exceed the K100m funding support before year end with  the reduction of equity requirement from 30% to 10%, and the change in the maximum loan amount from K3m to K5m, enabling more SMEs to be eligible to access the SME CESL facility. “It’s obviously been a challenging year for our SMEs in particular but as they say, tough times don’t last, tough people do. We’d like to wish all our SMEs throughout PNG a fantastic festive with a holy Christmas and a prosperous New Year 2022.” The BSP SME Credit Enhancement Scheme Loan is open to all SME owners including non-BSP customers and it does include the ability to refinance existing loans. Customers can enquire at all BSP branches throughout the country and particularly at the three dedicated BSP SME Business Centers, at Vision City - Port Moresby, Goroka and Lae.  

Adolescents from Buna and Kokoda in Oro Province recently graduated from Kokoda Track Foundation’s (KTF) Kicks 4 Kokoda sport for development program. To great excitement, 168 students from schools in Kokoda (116 participants) and Buna (52 participants) from age ranges of 12 to 19 years, graduated from this health awareness and soccer-based skills training program. After a nine-week program of activities focused on topics ranging from gender equality to changing adolescent bodies, the graduation of participants took place on the 27th and 28th of November in the respective locations of Buna Primary School ground and Kokoda Primary School ground to adhere to COVID-19 protocols. Celebratory songs, or Kicks 4 Kokoda ‘KILOS’ rang out during the ceremonies. Kicks 4 Kokoda uses the power of soccer to connect young women and men with the mentors, information, and health services they need to grow, develop, and thrive. KTF partnered with the PNG Olympic Committee and Grassroot Soccer to deliver the adolescent-focused sports program that has educated, inspired, and mobilised the youths to overcome their greatest health challenges, live healthier, more productive lives, and become agents of change in their communities. The Kicks 4 Kokoda program, through the Team Up partnership, is supported by the Australian Government. KTF Health Programs manager, Kate Donnellan shared her thoughts about the positive impacts of the program. “The program has obviously created a special bond for the participants and Kicks 4 Kokoda coaches who now have each other for support with the challenges faced by adolescents in rural PNG. This demonstrates the importance of running such a program, even under COVID restrictions,” she said Semi-Semi-professional soccer player and KTF Kicks 4 Kokoda Project Coordinator, Basil Jofari, has seen participants’ progress through the program. "The best part of the Kicks 4 Kokoda program is seeing the kids coming out and expressing themselves during the activities. There was good feedback from the children in terms of their participation. At first, they were shy, but then the safe space was created which made it much easier for them to participate." The program was inclusive, promoting equal participation by male and female participants, as well as persons living with disabilities. Participant with additional needs, 12-year-old grade four student from Buna Primary School, Rose, was excited to be part of the cohort that recently graduated. “The program has really helped me to be on the same level with my friends. I know and believe that my future is bright,” Rose said. Kicks 4 Kokoda aims to leverage the transformative power of sport to support a positive shift in social norms that contribute to increased gender equality and improved wellbeing, all while having fun. Meanwhile, the graduating participants are looking forward to the Kicks 4 Kokoda sports tournament involving PNGOC hero athletes and the local community, which will take place early next year in the province.

PNG Motors representatives handed over the keys of a brand new Hyundai Mighty Dump Truck to representatives of the Mt Hagen Urban Youths United Volunteer Association this week at the headquarters of Western Highlands Province . The truck will greatly assist the 4000 plus volunteer “army” in their mission to clean up Mt Hagen. “The Association is a part of a changing trend in Western Highlands Province which is seeing people ‘doing it for themselves’ rather than sit back and wait for Governments to do it for them,” said PNG Motors Marketing Manager, Stephen Lane, at the handover. “We are proud to be associated with an organisation staffed by people with passion, drive and ambition – people who are prepared to stand up and make things happen instead of simply complaining”, he added. The Right Hon. Paias Wingti, Governor of WHP was in attendance along with representatives of PNG Motors Mt Hagen branch - Tom Allen, Branch Manager and Sani Bona, Sales Executive for PNG Motors - as well as Christopher Philip, Provincial Minister for Youth, Women, Religion and Sport, members of the Association Executive and a group of enthusiastic and grateful volunteers who had decorated the truck for the handover. The volunteer organisation is just a part of the Governor’s vision for Western Highlands Province to demonstrate to the nation what can be done when local people take ownership. “Show us you can do it, demonstrate your passion, become engaged and we, the Government, will be there to assist”. That approach has seen local communities build 28 high schools in the past 10 years, enrolments rise to 90% and plans for another 40 plus new schools as well as the delivery of Science Blocks, Libraries, Satellite access once communities complete construction. Meanwhile members of the Association are hitting the streets of Mt Hagen to clean up the city and make it a welcoming place for visitors with the help of PNG Motors and Hyundai.