Anglican Church of Papua New Guinea Diocese of Port Moresby

Dogura Bishop's 2002 charity walk

A group of women have joined Anglican Bishop of Dogura Tevita Talanoa's planned fund-raising walk from Dogura in Milne Bay Province to Port Moresby via the Kokoda Trail.

Bishop Tevita's walk is to raise money for the restoration of the historic Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral at Dogura.

In a light-hearted interview with media representatives on Tuesday Bishop Talanoa joked that he had a new worry - that his wife Winnie and a number of other female Anglican faithful have also decided to participate.

Bishop Tevita confirmed that several women had joined the walk. One of them, Julia Daia-Bore, a reporter with The National newspaper, would be walking the entire distance. Ms Daia-Bore is a friend of the Bishop's wife.

Other women who have joined the walk are bank executives, Euralia Paine of ANZ and Rosa Wesley of the Bank of Papua New Guinea.

Ms Paine said they would be seeking sponsorship from their employers and join the Bishop's party from Kokoda to Ower's Corner in Central Province.

Bishop Tevita hopes a book and a film will be produced on the walk.

Video footages will be shot by Post-Courier journalist Barnabas Orere.

Religious Television is likely to cover the departure from Dogura, beginning with an eucharist for Martyr's Day on September 1 and the arrival in Port Moresby on September 22.

He said two new sectors had been added on his program. These are Alotau to Dogura and Gona in Oro.

When he arrives in Popondetta, the bishop's party will go down to Gona and walk back, to continue on to Kokoda. He did not explain reasons for the extended route.

One other fear Bishop Tevita has is that people along the route will leave their villages, going ahead of him, hanging lunch and water gourds on tree branches, and holding him back for breakfast.

He said, with a grin: "Breakfast in the bush places are not breakfast at all; they are more like feasts with sing-sing and all.

"From experience, the numbers of people following me will swell until it reaches hundred.

"And in the bush, they always keep out of sight because they know that if I see them, I will tell them to go back to their villages."