Environmental activist plans to walk around Australia

By JUNIOR UKAHA
ENVIRONMENT activist Latin N’drihin plans to walk around Australia next month – taking five million footsteps to raise A$5 million (K11 million).
The man from Manus will walk an estimated 15,000km in two years.
N’drihin, 40, from Lomaei, Pnka LLG, aims to raise the amount which is equivalent to the number of footsteps he has calculated will take him to walk around the Australian continent.
In every state, he will auction his footsteps at A$1 (K2.22) per step, and will do so with the help of Oxfam International (Australia).
N’drihin wants to raise funds to support the Mangrove Foundation, a group which he founded, to help plant five million mangroves in 500 coastal communities in the Pacific.
He said 50% of the proceed earned from the auctioning of his footsteps would go towards charity to be managed by Oxfam Australia.
The other half will go towards helping the foundation.
“It is not for personal gain but to help people affected by climate change,” he said.
“Eight men have circled Australia but they rode on bikes. I will walk.”
The walk starts and ends in Canberra and takes him through Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, Darwin, Cairns, Brisbane and Sydney.
“I have so far walked over 400km and clocked 34 days with over 800,000 footsteps counted,” he said.
It included:
l    Manus – 150km (estimated) walk for two weeks but footsteps not counted (started Dec 28, 2010);
l    Bogia-Madang – 119km (estimated) walk for 10 days with a total footsteps of 238,977 (started May 22, 2011);
l    Madang-Lae – 248km (estimated) walk for 18 days with a total footsteps of 495,310 (started on July 18, 2011); and
l    Sir Ignatius Kilage Stadium – (estimated) 50km for three  days with a total footsteps of 100,788 (started on Sept 29, 2011).
N’drihin yesterday started walking around the Sir John Guise Stadium after arriving in Port Moresby from Bulolo.
His initial plan to walk from Morobe to Port Moresby was put off after ethnic violence erupted in the area late last year.
He said the John Guise stadium walk was to prepare him for the big one in Australia.
The office of climate change and development has pledged to help N’drihin by hosting a corporate fundraising dinner on his behalf this month.
Senior policy analyst Jacob Ekinye said the department hoped that N’drihin’s walk would raise awareness on climate change and  raise funds to support mangrove planting activities.