Curtin architecture student helps build new health centre in Papua New Guinea
Kate Ferguson is excited about leading a team of more than 30 Australian and Papua New Guinean volunteer architecture students in building a community health centre in Papua New Guinea (PNG).

A fourth year architecture student at Curtin University of Technology Kate Ferguson of Karawara is project leader on the ambitious job of designing and constructing a health centre in the small coastal village of Labu-Tale in PNG’s Morobe Province.

Kate is looking forward to the challenges of leading a team of volunteer students, including Curtin students, in building this centre, complete with an aid post and training room.

“I visited PNG last November sponsored by the Student Organised Network for Architecture (Australia) or SONA a national architecture student volunteer organised network that is interested in creating ties with architecture students such as those from PNG,” Kate said.

“We wanted to work out ways of making collaborative partnerships to benefit the local people and went on a series of field trips,” she said.

“We visited Labu-Tale which is a relatively safe village with a population of about 1 000 people made-up mainly of fisher people and farmers and located close to Lae, one of the biggest towns in PNG.

“We realised the people of Labu-Tale were in great need of their own health centre so we decided to build one for them as our collaborative project.”

The Labu-Tale project’s collaborative partners include Curtin University of Technology’s Curtin Volunteers, the UNESCO Observatory on Multi-disciplinary Research in the Arts, the Papua New Guinea University of Technology or Unitech, PNG’s Huon District Health Administration, PNG’s Village Development Trust and SONA (Australia).

Kate will be working with the local health administration body in building the health centre and the PNG Government will then staff it with medical workers to provide the village with medical care, health education and training opportunities.

The local population will also be able to learn about innovative and sustainable construction methods to complement their traditional ways of building.

Curtin Executive Dean of Humanities Professor David Wood wished Kate well on her worthy project and was pleased to jointly sponsor the project with the Vice-Chancellor.

Kate is in PNG for an initial three weeks to begin organising the project that commences in late November.

She will be based at the Unitech School of Architecture with a five day site visit to Labu-Tale to start work on the project with the villagers - including surveying the site and taking soil tests.

When Kate returns to PNG in November she will be getting ready for the Australian volunteer students’ arrival in early December to work with PNG volunteer students and locals on the eight week student project.

Kate said the local people have already offered to build traditional huts for the students to sleep in during their stay.

“I am very thankful to Curtin for its sponsorship and support that will ultimately benefit the local people of Labu-Tale and volunteer PNG students,” Kate said.

“This project is giving me amazing skills in project management and a greater understanding of some of the many challenges and issues of working in developing countries.

“I am also making great networks for the future and I will be presenting my findings to students and staff in 2008.

“I am hoping this project will broaden and become an annual project including volunteer students from other areas of the University such as social sciences, agriculture, sustainable development and regional planning.”

http://www.infolink.com.au/articles/Curtin-architecture-student-helps-build-new-health-centre-in-Papua-New-Guinea_z62361.htm

This is great.

But I am just worried that this might not be properly supported by provincial government.

Anyway, thumbs up for those invoved.

Thumbs up to PNGeans at Curtin