THE SOILCHILD STORY

My name is Shila Yukuli Paia, and this is my story which also explains how and why SoilChild was founded.

MY VILLAGE, MY COUNTRY

I was born in Yuna country of Hela Province, Papua New Guinea. Hela only became a separate province in May 2012 from Southern Highlands Province.   In 2020, the population of the province was estimated at 400,000. Hela has three district electorates: Tari-Pori, Komo-Magarima and Lake Kopiago-Koroba. Yuna country occupies the land from the great Tagali River, in between Mullar and Owen Stanley Ranges, extending to the Strickland River to far west bordering West Papua. Yuna is the second largest tribal and language group from the Huli. The Yuna is within the Lake Kopiago-Koroba district electorate which comprises up to 200,000 population, mostly young people.