The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea (ELCPNG) National Youth Office conducted an awareness visit to Bundaira Correctional Institution Service (CIS) near Kainantu town, Eastern Highlands Province, with the aim of building relationships and exploring future collaboration on programs under the ELCPNG’s Church Partnership Program (CPP).
Bundaira CIS, located just outside Kainantu town, currently houses 136 male detainees. Female inmates are transferred to Bihute Prison in Goroka, while juvenile offenders are sent to Erap in Morobe Province. Most of the detainees at Bundaira are serving time for drug-related crimes.
Acting Commanding Officer Inspector Gibson Banu welcomed the visit, saying: “We hardly have visits from government agencies and even churches, and it is the first time to have such a visit. This is very encouraging for both the detainees and the officers.”
The awareness was led by Kainantu youths who had previously attended a Social Accountability workshop in Lae and later conducted follow-up programs in their district. Their efforts inspired the local Lutheran evangelist Rapui Kimu, who now serves as chaplain at Bundaira CIS, to organize this collaborative engagement with the prison authorities.
National Youth Director, Mr. Tony Kundang, explained that the initiative is part of a pilot project on civic education and social accountability, which is closely aligned with the Synod theme of ELCPNG: “You are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:13–15). He said: “Social accountability is civic education in practice. It is about shining the light of truth, justice, and responsibility in our communities and institutions. As Christ calls us to be salt and light, we want our young people to bring positive change by working in partnership with government institutions and addressing issues that affect our society.”
“The next step is to have an agreement signed between Bundaira CIS and ELCPNG. Once that is in place, an initial baseline survey will be carried out to understand the issues and map out realistic programs we can implement together,” Mr. Kundang added.
The visit team included:
- Tony Kundang – National Youth Director
- Mark Ibak – Admin Assistant, National Youth Office
- Shane Binbina – ELCPNG-CPP Monitoring & Evaluation Officer
- Cathrine Boira – ELCPNG-CPP Project Officer
- Hans Mala – ELC-Kainantu District Youth Coordinator
- Grace Robin – Youth Leader, Kainantu town seket
- Paito and Joshua – Youth Leaders, Kainantu town seket
- Women’s Coordinator of ELC-Kainantu District
The collaboration aims to create opportunities for holistic rehabilitation of detainees while strengthening church and community involvement in addressing social issues such as drug abuse. It also reflects ELCPNG’s commitment to living out the gospel by being “light” in places where hope and transformation are most needed.
