ASU Members Help Madang Red Cross

4 February 2010

All over Brisbane, ASU women have joined the cause to contribute to the Bra Collection for the benefit of women in Papua New Guinea.

Two large boxes weighing 20kg were collected and donated by ASU members and were forwarded to Madang by QUT Network Programmer, Antony Somerville and colleague Norman Tee who are both members of the ASU, via their Air Niuigini flight to Papua New Guinea whilst transporting surplus QUT IT technology bound for Divine Word University in Madang.

Mrs Maureen Hill, President of the Madang Red Cross, met up with our proud ASU members, Antony Somerville and Norman Tee on February 1, where a formal presentation of the goods took place!

Mrs Hill, who is also President of the Rotary Club of Madang and the Country Women’s Association, in her email to the ASU said “when I first started receiving bras I had to work out how to get them to the women who needed them. I now have a number of avenues and there is a definite demand for them”.

“One of the most successful distributions has been through a village birth attendants program. Village women, as selected by their community, are trained to be birth attendants as part of a community health worker program. To help them carry out their work they are supplied with a birthing kit for each delivery”, she said.

“Most of these kits are put together by Rotary Club and CWA members in Australia and shipped up to Madang. When birthing kits are requested a supply of bras goes with them” said Mrs Hill.

 “I think that the bras I received today will go to Braham High School in a very isolated part of the Upper Ramu valley. They have just had a new girl’s dormitory built and I think the young women will be very happy to have bras to wear. The bridge to this school has had the approaches washed away in a torrential storm a couple of weeks ago so it has not opened for the year yet, but I am sure the girls will be overjoyed to wear their bras when school opens”, said Mrs Hill.

A huge thank you goes out to ASU women who have donated bras to this very worthwhile cause.

Australian Services Union Branch Secretary, Julie Bignell, is keen to continue collecting bras on behalf of members to help the women of Papua New Guinea.

“It has been a real pleasure to be able to help our sisters in Papua New Guinea and we intend to keep running this campaign on their behalf for the foreseeable future”, says Ms Bignell.

“Our thanks also go to the Madang Rotary Club for being involved in this most worthy cause and we are more than happy to give our “support” to this cause on an on-going basis”, she said.

If anyone wishes to take up a collection at their workplace, the ASU will gladly come and collect them for delivery to Papua New Guinea. If you wish to be involved, please call the ASU Office on 3844 8402 or email info@qld.asu.net.au.