Eliptamin Women’s Conference

14 Oct

I (Shiv) was privileged to attend a Women’s Conference in our neighbouring village of Eliptamin, just over the mountain in June 2023.

Here are some videos and pictures, mostly taken by my good friend, Mandy Glass, a MAF PNG Comms Officer…

Having the opportunity to worship God together with these women was a real privilege. We come from completely different backgrounds, have different levels of education, we speak different languages, yet we are all sisters in Christ who serve the same God!

Also, being able to give out the reusable sanitary packs, the “Days for Girls” kits, was amazing. As I explained why we as women have periods, and the fact that practically ALL women around the world go through the same thing, I could see the light in their eyes that told me many were hearing this for the first time! It was obvious that most of these young women did not know the biology behind the menstrual cycle, or that it is common to women in every country of the world, things which I took for granted.

Access to sanitary pads in bush communities is limited at best and very expensive. For those who do have limited access, one disposable pad costs PGK2.50 which is around $1 or 60p. But most bush locations which have a “trade store” rarely stock sanitary pads because the local women just can’t afford them. Instead they use leaves or moss or rags which can lead to infections if not changed frequently enough or washed thoroughly.

Shiv & Ryan posing with the 2 other Telefomin pilots, Capt Joseph (who is Papua New Guinean) and Capt Richie (who is Australian) with some of the women they flew from Telefomin to attend the Conference.
Normally there are 2 C208 Caravans in Telefomin, but for this event, MAF put 3 planes in Tele, so for 2 days these 3 pilots just supported this Conference with about 5 flights each per day flying bush women to Eliptamin. Many more women walked in too.

In Eliptamin, at the Conference…

Below are a couple of videos which explain what we did at the Conference and why MAF supports events like this across bush locations in PNG. Below that are more photos. Click here to read more on the MAF PNG website.

Giving out “Days for Girls” Sanitary kits and education about the menstrual cycle…

Below are a couple of videos edited by my friend, Mandy Glass. The first shows how we educated the young women and then showed them how to use the “Days for Girls” reusable sanitary kits. Click here to read more on the MAF PNG website. The second video is just a shout-out thank you to the amazing women in Castor & Brownfield, Canada and in Cairns, Australia, who made these kits for us to be able to give out. Below the videos are more pictures.