Links of Hope Newsletter June 2025

Welcome to our mid-year update at Links of Hope PNG. We have had a busy start to our year and are grateful to our Links of Hope teams in Port Moresby and Mount Hagen for their dedication and hard work in continuing to empower individuals and impact communities in our area of influence, working alongside, training and equipping families living impacted by the HIV epidemic.

School Uniform Distribution

192 children in Port Moresby and 50 in Mount Hagen were issued school uniforms, shoes and school bags in the first quarter of this year to equip them to head back to school for the year. We are extremely grateful for the support of Westpac Bank in Port Moresby, who nominated Links of Hope as a recipient of their Gala Dinner, allowing this initiative to be funded for 2025.

Staff Training

Our staff are continually seeking opportunities to up-skill – already this year some of our Port Moresby team have up-skilled through training with UNICEF and the National Office of Child and Family Services in learning how to utilise and roll-out the ‘Child Friendly Spaces Toolkit’ – pictured here are Naomi, Reinard and Seruma.

In Hagen, our Adherence Counsellor, Freddy and Community Nurse, Bartholomew, have completed Disclosure Training with ACTUP PNG.

Our wonderful Project Manager, Shalom, in Port Moresby is currently up-skilling by studying a Law degree which she is passionate about utilising to direct Links of Hope policy and work in the Child Protection arena and eventually shape national thinking and legislation.

Caregiver Training

In Mount Hagen in May we completed a 2-day Adherence Training Workshop upskilling over 20 caregivers. Teachings were led by Tabitha Lutz, our Links of Hope HIV Consultant, who capably led conversations, role play and practical sessions to reinforce the importance of medication adherence, clinical reviews and balanced diet, as well as explaining the science of the HIV virus and how it affects the human body.

We followed this day up with a one-day workshop with adolescents, reiterating the adherence messages and providing opportunity for all important peer connections and supports.

Our Community Health Nurse, Naomi in Port Moresby has re-introduced weekly health education workshops in Port Moresby, educating caregivers in key health messages to better support themselves, their communities and the children in their care.

Care Package Distribution

The main way we stay connected with children on our Child Sponsorship Program is by practically supporting with monthly care packages. We are indebted to the support we receive from Nestle in PNG, who partner with us in the supply of some key commodities that make up our care packages. 

UNICEF visits to our Parent For Child Development Communities

We are privileged to by a key partner working with UNICEF in Papua New Guinea and this year have had the honour to host two key representatives in communities in which operate and have delivered their evidence-based Parent for Child Development initiative. In Joyce Bay community in March we hosted Ann Sherry from UNICEF Australia. Ann reinforced the importance of community-based approaches to promote positive parenting practices and prevent violence against children.

In May we hosted Dr Najat Maalla M’jid, the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence Against Children, in Morata Community. Dr M’jid met with the Prime Minister and spoke in PNG Parliament, stating ‘Child protection and wellbeing is not a checklist – you have to act’, before travelling to Morata community for informal discussions with Links of Hope caregivers and community representatives who had taken part in the P4CD Program we delivered their last April.

Staff Profile – Teshilda Beiyao

Teshilda is a recent graduate from the PNG University of Technology from the field of Communications for Development Studies. She did her 3 months university required industrial training with Links of Hope as a Research Student/Intern in her first semester in 2024 and after completing her final year by the end of 2024 she joined us as a full-time employee as the Administration Officer for our Port Moresby Office. 

When Teshilda is not busy manning our office, developing systems and leading some of our project work, Teshilda relaxes by watching movies and reading about history & past monarchs.

Our Thanks ……..

Finally, we could not do what we do without you – our supporters, donors and funders – we once again express our heartfelt thanks and gratitude. Please get in touch if you would like to find out more about child sponsorship or supporting Links of Hope in any capacity. contact.png@linksofhopepng.com