"Every trip to Papua New Guinea is different and brings new challenges and exciting situations" according to Inverell Rotary club's International Director and Team Leader Greg Moran on his return from Kokoda recently.
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For example, the amazing welcome they received at St Margaret's Nursing School when visiting to meet the nursing students sponsored for their final year by district clubs including Inverell's own club.
This welcome included traditional dancing, meeting with staff and students and a lovely morning tea.
A water tank donated to the Anonda School in the previous year by Inverell Rotary Club had been installed and connected to a roof to provide clean drinking water to the school students.
The tank was officially opened and dedicated to the Inverell Rotary Club under the Safe Water Saves Lives program.
School packs donated by Coffs Harbour Sunrise Rotary were also gratefully received.
The two other women team members, Sue Moran and Beverley Walls from Days for Girls visited an adult literacy school at Koko village and were happy to donate more school packs to a very grateful group of people working hard to improve their skills.
Meanwhile, Greg had his work cut out for him organising local people to help finish off the Kokoda Hospital Nurses container house.
This included digging in a septic tank and connecting it to the house without having it float away with the constant nightly rain falling during the unseasonal "dry season".
Some other minor works and painting of the kitchen area and bedrooms ensured the house was completed and ready for occupation
Bev was very happy to present reusable sanitary kits under the auspices of Days for Girls to girls and women from the Anonda School and to give them an educational session on the care and use of these kits as well as general hygiene and female anatomy.
These people attended the session on a public holiday, First Shot Day.
Greg attended the First Shot celebrations at Awala Village where the first shots of the Kokoda Campaign took place.
"It was a spectacular event with dancers in traditional dance attire and headdresses and hundreds of people parading and marching.
"As the only Australian present, he was very surprised and honoured to be asked by the dignitaries to speak off the cuff to the thousand or so people present on behalf of Australia.
"In PNG expect the unexpected," Greg said.
The Kokoda Track campaign or Kokoda Trail was part of the Pacific War of WWII. The campaign consisted of a series of battles fought between July and November 1942 in what was then the Australian Territory of Papua.
