Shuttle Time delivery through the Inclusive GymBad programme has been a well-regarded programme in Papua New Guinea for a number of years, particularly for its ability to make a difference to People with Disabilities.
GymBad — and more broadly, badminton as a sport — have traditionally had a presence in Port Moresby and parts of Central Province. Introducing the GymBad programme to the Eastern Highlands is a significant step towards expanding its accessibility.
The aim of the project was to introduce the GymBad programme to Goroka, capital of the Eastern Highlands province.
Reaching Out to People with Disabilities
Importantly, the target was People with Disabilities (PWD), women and girls. The programme involved the training of 10 Shuttle Time Teachers and 40 Shuttle Time participants (with half of them female).
Rutha Omenefa is the local driver of the programme expansion in Goroka and has previously worked at the PNG National Olympic Committee, where she became familiar with GymBad. She relocated to her hometown of Goroka this year and invited Badminton Papua New Guinea to engage local people with disabilities in sport. With the enthusiasm from the community in Goroka to welcome badminton, and the availability of a venue at the National Sports Institute, Goroka is a well-positioned city to introduce badminton to locals.
A Shuttle Time Teachers Course (20-21 August) and Shuttle Time delivery to community (2 September to 11 October) were held to promote badminton development in the region.
A group of three Badminton PNG personnel (Laurel, Joyce and Paul) visited Goroka from Port Moresby to train 10 local volunteers to become Shuttle Time Teachers.
The newly trained GymBad volunteers then had a session putting their newly trained skills to the test with a school visit under the tutelage of the three trainers.
The six weeks of GymBad community delivery by the local volunteers trained 40 participants.
Inclusive GymBad’s expansion into Eastern Highlands through delivering a Shuttle Time Teachers Course was made possible by support from the Australian Aid programme Team Up. (https://www.teamup.gov.au/about/team-up)
The six-week programme delivery was made possible thanks to funding through the BWF Membership Grants Programme 2024.
Response
A new Shuttle Time Teacher reported: “I’ve only been teaching students with disabilities in class but now with the Shuttle Time Training, I’m able to help my students take part in sports as well. The word Inclusive is a big pull factor for me.”
“Being involved in Sports 4 Development for over eight years, I see that sports have had an impact on a lot of children, women and people living with disabilities. Goroka is a small town with a growing population. There aren’t any ways to create access to support for PWDs and young people in our community. Having Gymbad come to Goroka is a great opportunity for PWDs and people in the community. I’m excited that now the sports volunteers in Goroka now have an opportunity to coach badminton and now that they are trained to run GymBad sessions, they will have something productive to do and develop themselves. Thank you GymBad for choosing Goroka and thank you for this opportunity to help us work with PWDs through sport.” – Rutha Omenefa (Key local driver from Goroka)
