Doreka Dai is from Boera village and a proud Papua New Guinean who received the East-West Centre Award in Honolulu Hawaii, in 2020.
Doreka has been very instrumental in the community development space, and for her contributions, she was the first person to ever receive the EWC award from the five villages, Papa, Lealea, Kido, Boera and Porebada in the Kairuku-Hiri District of Central Province.
The award is a testament of the great work women do in Papua New Guinea, especially in the rural areas.
Doreka recently received donations on behalf of the Boera Hisiubada Women’s Fellowship and this included a 10-day Life Skills training workshop in screen-printing and tie-dying led by AA Tribal’s wonderful fashion icon and team.
Dai said it is initiatives like these that immensely contribute to the growth and sustainability in a community, and despite having similar trainings conducted in the past, the donation of sewing machines and Life Skills training will ensure that the next generation are taught to preserve their cultural and traditional prints on garments.
Doreka said that every traditional marking has a story to tell and through printing onto garments, their history continues to be remembered, embraced and learnt by the next generation.