Our Volunteers - The "LiteHaus Family"
Much like traditional Papua New Guinean culture, we place immense importance on the value of family. The LiteHaus family is an incredible assembly of thousands of people diverse in background but united by the principles of generosity and selflessness which our brand has been built upon. From rooftops in Pakistan, gardens in remote Papua New Guinea, and churches in Uganda to pubs in Australia, the story of LiteHaus is on someone's lips every day.
As an entirely volunteer-led organisation, we rely heavily on the efforts of those willing to invest their time in helping others. Our 45 volunteers range from young Australians collecting refurbishing computers to Western Highlanders driving between schools and spreading our vision throughout communities.
So far in 2021, we've clocked thousands of volunteer hours between our diverse and inclusive team. Take Flyn Johnson for example - he's refurbished more than 200 digital devices which are now at the fingertips of future leaders in need. Or Jessie Penning, a Papua New Guinean future leader who completes our weekly financial reporting. Or Hari Senthuran, who joined LiteHaus at 15 years of age and has been instrumental to our refurbishing initiatives. Or Rob Birnie, who has driven 4,000km in his own vehicle across rural, regional and remote Australia to complete all of their hard work.
Local Ownership of Our Work in Papua New Guinea
Our mission, vision and journey began in the Western Highlands of Papua New Guinea in September 2017. Our Founder, Jack Growden, struck up a friendship with Cr Peter Raim, who is the tribal leader of the Kopi tribe and a passionate advocate for his community's development. Fast forward to 2021, and Cr Peter Raim has led the on-the-ground rollout of 28 computer labs across the primary education sector across his home province.
Every NGO talks about cultivating local ownership over their programs - we are privileged to live it every day. With the travel difficulties from COVID-19, our team in Australia has not been able to be on the ground in PNG, however, that has mattered little, with our local team managing our largest rollouts. Cr Peter Raim leads a team of local, Kopi tribe members, who don the LiteHaus yellow with pride and without expectation of remuneration.
Joe Nongur manages the technical aspects of the installations, while Paul Aris serves as our driver, ensuring the team makes it safely to and from rollouts in remote parts of the Western Highlands Province. Other young volunteers also assist the team, learning valuable skills in IT and general employability. Local ownership ensures we maximise the impact from the infrastructure.