On 5th January a Lae Lady, Veronica Miria, passed away after a brief battle with a weak heart in Angau Hospital.
Her husband Aihi, is one of Lae’s longest serving Rotarians (of 44 years) and both he and Veronica were avid golfers at the LAE Golf Club. Veronica was a retired LAE teacher who spent over thirty years educating and guiding the future of Morobe youth. A mother of three and a boo boo meri herself she was a much respected, admired and loved member of the LAE community.
In attempts to manage Veronica heart issue, the family had a need to send Veronica to PIH in POM for attention but unfortunately her heart was too weak to have the operation completed.
This, as is too often the case in PNG, put the family under a huge debt and both the Rotary and Golf Club decided to have a day of raising funds to assist the family in repaying the debt.
Lae Business, golfing and wantok rallied together and a successful 9 holes golf competition, followed by a noisy, fun Trivia night and Auction raised in excess of K37,000. This goes a long way to repaying the debt. A key Auction item on the night was a traditional skirt worn by Veronica in many of the Kairuku Sing Sings that she and Aihi led and performed.The skirt was donated by the family, framed and bought by a golfing friend of Veronica’s, Sirinayah Phalamon, who said “this is in memory of Aunty V, a lovely lady”. The Miria family is grateful to the Rotary Club of Lae-Huon Gulf, the Lae Golf Club and the Business and wantok community of Lae for providing the Auction items, and digging deep to buy them. Rotary Club president John Byrne thanked all the attendees saying “This is what community is about, in the tough times, we need to smile, work together and support one another”.
