Equal Playing Field champions safe homes, happy families and strong communities in Papua New Guinea. The organisation tackles issues such as gender-based violence and uses sport to engage young people in its programs.

Equal Playing Field’s Adam Everill

Equal Playing Field (EPF) started when you both met at a youth summit in India in 2011. What motivated you to start it?

Jacqui Joseph (JJ): I’m driven by a high sense of altruism and service to others. This was formed during my childhood in the Bougainville crisis (1988–1998), where I witnessed a lot of lives and homes destroyed, including my own. I was privileged and am grateful to have a supportive family.

Adam Everill (AE): I have a strong belief that you should find the place where you can be the most useful in the world and, when you find it, do something about it. I had been studying family violence issues, as well as sport, in Papua New Guinea. The stars aligned and something said it was a good idea to utilise sport as a vehicle for violence prevention in PNG.

‘Volunteers and staff are fiercely passionate about building a PNG where all have equal opportunity to thrive through their involvement with us.’

What are some of your key programs?

AE: The Australian Government funds the ‘EPF 4 Schools’ program , where we go into schools for eight weeks at a time to promote gender equality to 12-to-16-year-old boys and girls. During the program, students take part in mixed-gender sport. There’s also the ‘EPF Academy’ six-month program that trains men and women under 35 as facilitators and advocates for gender equality and respectful relationships.

How many people are involved in EPF?

Equal Playing co-founder Jacqui Rose

JJ: There are 40 active volunteers and 15 full-time staff. We are recruiting for more to cater for new programs.

Is there a major new program this year?

JJ: Yes, we are introducing the ‘Generation Found’ program, a direct upending of the ‘lost generation’ label describing the generation dispossessed by the Bougainville crisis. It attempts to be truly Bougainvillean, utilising tradition, culture, sport, and lessons on personal and civic responsibility to support literacy, livelihood and nation building.

Does EPF cover all of PNG?

AE: EPF’s face-to-face activities are currently in Port Moresby and Bougainville. But this year we will have tool kits available for teachers and leaders in other provinces with our messages going into more schools, homes and communities across the country.

‘I have a strong belief that you should find the place where you can be the most useful in the world and, when you find it, do something about it.’

What are some of the great stories that have emerged from your work?

JJ: There are so many beautiful stories, from daughters taking their mothers to family support centres, sons being proud of helping their mothers in the house, and EPF volunteers and staff transformed and fiercely passionate about building a PNG where all have equal opportunity to thrive through their involvement with us.

For more details about Equal Playing Field, see equalplayingfield.global

Robert Upe is Editor of Paradise, the in-flight magazine of Air Niugini. This article first published in Paradise. Reproduced with permission.