Wantaim PNG

30/09/2026

20 More Schools About to Get Lit Up.

Before a single light reaches a classroom, someone has to receive it, count it, wrap it securely, and get it moving.

This week, that's exactly what happened: 62 boxes of SolarBuddy lights, bound for Los Negros and PNKA LLGs — one urban LLG, one rural.

Every student in both, about to be covered. 100%.

None of this happens without Hari Avara and the team at GFS, who managed the packing, the logistics, the customs clearance, and kept everything safely stored until it was time to move. It's the part of Illuminating Futures most people never see — and it's the part that makes everything else possible.

Because the best education sets a child up for life. And that starts with light to study by, after dark.

The team's about to be on the move. 20 more schools, coming right up.

wantaimpng.org

24/09/2026

Gypsy jumped the fence at Alexandra St, Manly tonight. She’s visiting family in Manly, doesn’t know the geography. Has no collar but is microchipped. Super super friendly, not skittish at all, v approached and much loved. If any sightings, pls let us know and help her get home.

20/09/2026

No roads reach where we work. Just water.

For seven years, our boat has been the only way in — carrying solar lights for schools, equipment for health workers, and our first aid trainers to communities across Manus. Hot days. Rough seas. Rain that doesn't let up. Every single time.

It's earned a rest. So has its engine.

Thanks to the generous souls who've already raised $6,540 towards a new boat, a new engine, a backup engine for safety and new safety kit for the team. $30,000 in total. $23,460 to go.

If you've still got room to give, donations of any amount would be wonderful.

Help fuel the longest last mile. Together. Wantaim.

Donate → wantaimpng.org/donate/

16/09/2026

12/09/2026

In Her Own Words: Annette on Hamamas Meri
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In Manus, a girl's period can still mean missing school.

Annette has watched that change. In this short clip, she shares what it means for girls in her community to receive Hamamas Meri kits — reusable, washable sanitary kits, made by local women.

"The girls can use these products and they can continue to be in class."

Skills. Not Charity.

As at June 2026: 2,352 people reached with health education. 54 women trained to sew kits. 11 communities and counting.

wantaimpng.org

29/08/2026

66% There. One Boat Away From the Rest.

Most families in Manus live off the land and the sea. Subsistence farming, subsistence fishing — and little left over for something as simple as light.

When the sun goes down, homework stops. Some kids study by firelight. Most don’t study at all.

Working with Pihi Manus Association, Wantaim PNG has delivered more than 8,000 solar lights to 65 of Manus’s 95+ schools — 66% of the province, reached.

We want to deliver 4,000 more before the end of 2026, to stay on track for every school by mid-2027. Getting there means more trips like the one you’ve seen us make: two days, 118kms, one banana boat.

Our boat is seven years old and needs replacing.

Help us fuel the last mile — https://www.wantaimpng.org/donate/

wantaimpng.org
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28/08/2026

They Came for the Football. They Stayed for the Facts.

When vaccines arrived in PNG, so did the fear. Misinformation moved fast, and for many communities, there was no one they trusted to explain what was actually true.

So Wantaim PNG brought in Dr Gabriel Yohang — a Manus-born specialist rural GP and medical lecturer — to talk to his own communities in Tok Pisin, and in his tok ples, the language of his own village.

We ran a soccer tournament to get people there. It worked.

People turned up for the football, and left with real answers, from someone they already knew and trusted.

Because cutting through fear doesn’t take a campaign. It takes someone the community already believes.

wantaimpng.org

21/08/2026

No Vaccine. No waiting.

When COVID-19 reached PNG, there was no vaccine yet.
Australia closed its state borders in March 2020. One month later, Wantaim PNG began its own response in Manus — soap and hygiene training, delivered door to door.

Over the following eight months, our team reached every community across Manus Province. All of them.

That wasn't just about being there. COVID exposed how little trust many communities placed in public institutions and international agencies. Wantaim PNG's team didn't arrive as strangers. Years on the ground had already earned something that can't be delivered overnight: trust.

To our knowledge, no other NGO or government agency achieved complete community coverage across any province in PNG during this period.

When it mattered most, our team showed up. People let them in.
wantaimpng.org

13/08/2026

“Melanesian relationships come with an enduring obligation for renewal through presence, reliability and return”.

A concluding message from our CEO’s interview with ABC Conversations this week. Thank you Australia - Papua New Guinea Network for catching it so well.

Lynne Shori grew up with her hero dad, thinking her Papua New Guinean mother was dead. As an adult, she discovered the truth and set about finding her lost family. When Lynne was growing up, it was just her and her dad. Lynne's dad was her hero; he was different and adventurous but she always felt s...

07/08/2026

Such a big day for us. Thank you all joining the telling of this story ❤️🙏🏽