CPL group signs MOU with PNG Cancer Foundation

In honour of the recent launch of Pride of Papua New Guinea awards for Women Empowerment (Pride of PNG Awards), we are celebrating past winners and the impacts of their work in the ir families and communities

Josephine Durua was a winner in the (insert year) cycle of the Pride of PNG awards for the Bravery and Courage medal. Ms. Josephine is a volunteer village court magistrate at the Morata settlement, in the Moresby Northwest Electorate of Port Moresby.

She also houses victims of gender-based and sorcery-related violence. “The physical injury is horrific, the cuts are deep and the pain is unbearable.

But the emotional and psychological damage takes a long time to get over but sometimes it stays with you your whole life, creeps up on you when you are asleep, haunting your day dreams- it will never go away,” sighed Ms Durua.

“Sorcery-related violence is irrational. You have a group of people single out a peculiar person in the community and by all means exert violence until that person is forced to seek relief from the pain and say, ‘yes’!” said Ms Durua.

Port Moresby has some of the highest incidences of sorcery-related violence in PNG. And Moresby North-East records the highest of these cases.

“I have learnt that forgiveness is freedom, it’s an inherent value we must all have”.

It frees your mind, and your assailant does not have dominion over you. Even when they kill you, their rage is nothing but poison to themselves,” said Ms Durua.

Pride of PNG Awards was incepted in 2007 as a community initiative of CPL Group and has continued until 2018, with a total of 64 winners. Due to COVD restrictions in the last three years, CPL had deferred the launched of the awards until this year.

“The Awards are meant to celebrate and honour women in Papua New Guinea who work tirelessly and selflessly to care, protect and serve the communities they live in,” said Sir Mahesh.

Josephine’s story is one of the many. True recognition is not about the Pride of PNG Awards, it is about the raised awareness of the inequalities and the hardships that exist in our families and communities.