The Lions Club of Benalla welcomed former FCJ College student Hannah Humphries to its recent meeting to discuss a trip the club helped fund.
Lions Club member Dale Frankland said Ms Humphries embarked on a trip to Papua New Guinea, with the charity No Roads, to help set up medical practices in the jungle.
“The No Roads Foundation was established in 2014 by two Wangaratta locals,” Hannah said.
“They decided to target two areas, and so they run No Roads to Health and No Roads to Education.”
Hannah said when selecting a location to focus on they encourage people to take the first step by taking the initiative to set up an educational facility or health service.
“They do that before they go to an area to make sure that locals are committed to helping their own community first.
“Then, from there, we go in and help run outreach health clinics, for example.
“We help to train local healthcare volunteers to help take the burden off the very few paid staff that they might have.
“We help fill in that gap and just continue to build capacity until the communities are looking really good, and then we start an exit strategy and then head into a different community.
Dale said it was inspiring to hear Hannah’s story.
"Hannah gave us a fascinating insight into what it is like to live on the other side with none of the first world luxuries we take for granted,“ Dale said.
Hannah said she could not have got this opportunity without assistance from Benalla’s service clubs.
“We were really grateful to receive assistance from both the Lions Club and the Rotary Club of Benalla,” she said.
Hannah is currently planning her next journey with No Roads, which she hopes to do in August 2025.