What’s in the name….KTF

We are KTF.

How we started

KTF was born as Kokoda Track Foundation on Anzac Day in 2003 to help repay the selfless and heroic assistance provided to Australia during the WWII campaign by the Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels and the people of the Kokoda Track. Our founders were inspired to keep the Spirit of Kokoda, the great friendship between PNG and Australia, alive.

As a small charity with limited funds, we started by awarding scholarships for students to attend elementary and primary schools along the Track - the Fuzzy Wuzzy Angel Scholarships. We also supported a number of high school scholarships for children from the Track communities to attend high school (most as boarding students) in Iarowari High School, Sogeri National High School, Laloki High School, Popondetta High School, Martyrs High School and Mt Diamond Secondary School. Between 2003 - 2010, we supported 3,000 scholarships from elementary to high school and also supported tertiary education for a small number of students through the Bisset Medal.

How we grew in the Kokoda region

Raising more funds from the Australian public, companies, philanthropists and government enabled us to expand our work along the Track and greater Kokoda catchment. This meant we could help schools with much-needed resources, some teacher salaries, and even some classrooms. It also allowed us to start our health program, helping aid posts across Oro and the Track with vital medical supplies, re-opening many closed facilities in consultation with the PHAs, and supporting CHW wages and aid post operations. 

To help grow the number of teachers and health workers across the region, the Kokoda College was born, again with the support of our friends in Australia.

The turning of the sod was undertaken by four Kokoda Veterans - Bede Tongs, George Palmer, Owen Baskett and Garnet Tobin - at the 70th anniversary of the Kokoda campaign. The Kokoda College was then built, entirely funded by the generosity of Australians - philanthropists, trusts and foundations, and the general public. It became a thriving education institute, carved out of the jungle, in honour and memory of those Kokoda veterans who sacrificed so much.   

One of the projects delivered there in 2016 was a critical training program for 330 of Oro’s elementary teachers. Without this course, these teachers would have been removed from the government payroll, meaning no teachers to teach thousands of students across the Province.

How we expanded (and funded) our work in other provinces

When we were alerted that teachers in provinces across PNG were facing the same challenge as the Oro teachers, we worked with the National Department of Education, PNG Education Institute and provincial governments to deliver this training in 13 more provinces, to a total of 3,685 teachers who taught more than 130,000 children. Generous donors with links to each province funded this “Teach for Tomorrow” training; the training for Oro teachers was funded by generous Australian philanthropists and DFAT and the training for Central teachers was funded by Steamships and ExxonMobil. Elementary teachers from the Kokoda Track were invited to participate in these trainings.

Teach for Tomorrow was our first expansion beyond the greater Kokoda region - undertaken at the urging of the PNG Provincial and National Governments. With this growth, we realised our name also needed to reflect our work in other provinces. We also understand the significance of the Kokoda name to the people of the Kokoda Track. So, outside of the Track region, ‘Kokoda Track Foundation’ became ‘KTF’. We had also reimagined ourselves and adopted Queen Alexandra’s Birdwing Butterfly as our logo. Native to Oro, KTF’s birthplace, this magnificent butterfly symbolised our growth and geographic expansion across PNG, while remaining connected to our ‘home’ in Oro. 

How we are known (and funded) in provinces outside Oro & Central

KTF now works in multiple hubs across PNG. In addition to Oro and Central, we work in Western, New Ireland and the NCD. In other provinces, we are known as ‘KTF’. When people ask, we say we started in Kokoda as the Kokoda Track Foundation and the butterfly has spread its wings.

In provinces other than Oro and Central, we have formed partnerships with generous donors to fund the work we do. This is a prerequisite for expansion of our work - do we have donors with a link to the province who are committed to supporting this project? Examples of this are PNG Sustainable Development Program (SDP) funds and partners with us on all of our education work in Western Province. Newmont’s donations support all of our FODE Colleges in New Ireland Province.

How we fundraise to support our ongoing work in Oro and Central

Given the historic connection between Australians and the people of the Track, we sometimes undertake public fundraising to support our programs along and around the Kokoda Track, in the Track corridor across Oro and Central Provinces, that require critical ongoing funding, especially in the areas of education and health. The more donations we raise, the greater the scope and impact of our work across this corridor.

This has enabled us to deliver projects in the Kokoda region for more than 20 years. We are committed to continuing this work and will keep actively fundraising to do so. Our Kokoda College, our support of 17 health facilities across the Track corridor, and our Project Zero (safe haus for people escaping violence) are jointly funded by the Australian Government through our hard-earned ANCP accreditation. We match these funds with general fundraising from Australian philanthropists and members of the general public in order to keep the doors of the projects open. The Governor’s Office of Oro Province donated a truck to the operations of the Kokoda College and have pledged a commitment of funding or in kind support each year. 

For more on our donors and finances, head to our website where you can find our Annual Reports back to 2010 - click here.

Our registered name is, and will always remain, the Kokoda Track Foundation Limited. We are registered with PNG’s IPA and Australia’s ACNC.

We are KTF. An organisation that proudly started as the Kokoda Track Foundation, to keep the great spirit of friendship between Australia and Papua New Guinea alive.