The event of the day is that the Bougainville Women's Federation's new building at the Buka town market is ready for them to move in! You can see the market roof in the background.
It's a great achievement to have organised the land, funding and all the planning and building work to the point that the building is now ready for use, and many people have worked extremely hard to get it all done.
The sad part is that many of the projects and programs planned for the new building cannot begin yet as the essential equipment and materials are in the shipping container which is still stranded at Lae. The women at the BWF office in Buka have been making an all-out effort in the past couple of weeks to persuade the Customs and Inland Revenue officials to make the necessary decisions so we get the container on a ship to Buka. It looks as if we may have to pay duty on some of the goods; we will also have to pay for storage of the container during its enforced wait at Lae - an expense that is charged daily. There is still some money remaining from the generous donations for the costs of shipping, but it may not be enough, although we have asked about the possibility of a discount or waiver of part of the storage costs.
More to come, undoubtedly.
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