Success story:
1st shipment
LDT Weightlifitng
Hanuabada Village (big village)
On August 9th 2016, Tahina shared the story of her experience of competing in PNG in February 2015 and how difficult it was for athletes to train without proper equipment. Tahina had a small idea of asking her social media following if they had any pre-loved weightlifting, crossfit & powerlifting gear they wanted to donate to Commonwealth gold medalist and friend, Ms Loa Dika Toua, in Hanuabada village in Port Moresby, PNG.
The social media post went viral within the lifting community and they came together and raised $4000 within 3 months. The first shipment was sent to Dika's gym LDT Weightlifting in November 2016. Over 40 pairs of specialized weightlifting shoes, equipment and suits were donated with many more donations coming through after the shipment left.
Tahina flew up to Port Moresby and was met with PNG media and the Australian Broad Casting Late Line show to document this remarkable event. The local media gave positive reviews and she was a guest speaker on youth radio station Tribe FM (NBC).
Dika Toua is the weightlfting queen of PNG and created her own gym to assist with the increase of the sports popularity after her gold medal win at Glasgow Commonwealth games in 2014. Dika has 50 athletes that share 2 platforms and most children weightlift barefoot or share boots. Due to limited funding and no financial support Dika was limited to providing adequate equipment to her lifters and only 4 people could train at a time. Training would conclude around 11pm for 6 out of 7 days a week.
Since the delivery of Grass Skirt Project equipment, Dika's lifters now have access to bars, barbells, straps, knee sleeves, wrist straps, shoes, socks, weightlifting suits and ongoing support from the Grass Skirt Project. They can now have up to 12 lifters training at the same time and children home to do school work at a reasonable hour.
The social media post went viral within the lifting community and they came together and raised $4000 within 3 months. The first shipment was sent to Dika's gym LDT Weightlifting in November 2016. Over 40 pairs of specialized weightlifting shoes, equipment and suits were donated with many more donations coming through after the shipment left.
Tahina flew up to Port Moresby and was met with PNG media and the Australian Broad Casting Late Line show to document this remarkable event. The local media gave positive reviews and she was a guest speaker on youth radio station Tribe FM (NBC).
Dika Toua is the weightlfting queen of PNG and created her own gym to assist with the increase of the sports popularity after her gold medal win at Glasgow Commonwealth games in 2014. Dika has 50 athletes that share 2 platforms and most children weightlift barefoot or share boots. Due to limited funding and no financial support Dika was limited to providing adequate equipment to her lifters and only 4 people could train at a time. Training would conclude around 11pm for 6 out of 7 days a week.
Since the delivery of Grass Skirt Project equipment, Dika's lifters now have access to bars, barbells, straps, knee sleeves, wrist straps, shoes, socks, weightlifting suits and ongoing support from the Grass Skirt Project. They can now have up to 12 lifters training at the same time and children home to do school work at a reasonable hour.
