General News
17 December, 2025
Maternity care at heart
CAIRNS-based charity Gulagbi Collaborative Sustainable Developments Ltd (Gulagbi) has launched a new website and online donation portal as it seeks volunteers and sponsors to expand maternal health and community projects across Far North Queensland, Papua New Guinea, Laos and beyond.
The organisation, founded by perinatal bodyworker and 2025 Cairns International Women’s Day Women’s Recognition Award recipient Shelly Langford, has grown from a small grassroots initiative into a registered charity with a volunteer team of FNQ maternity care and allied health professionals, as well as local mothers supporting its mission.
Gulagbi has assisted Papua New Guinea nationals transferred to Thursday Island and Cairns for emergency medical treatment and has delivered infrastructure projects to remote PNG communities. Recent projects include installing a Sky Hydrant filtration system that now supplies clean drinking water to an entire village.
The charity is also collaborating with not-for-profit organisations on midwifery care and birth skills training programs in Laos and Guatemala, with plans to develop its own postpartum care project for families in Far North Queensland.
Ms Langford, who will return to Laos in January as part of a selected team of birth workers representing the Lao Birthwork Project, said the new online hub marked an essential step in improving access for donors and supporters. “We are delighted to finally have an online home for Gulagbi and a growing team of volunteers helping make these visions a reality,” Ms Langford said.
“Now we’re calling for sponsors who share our vision to continue this important work. Every contribution helps us reach more mothers, babies and families in need.”
She said the organisation’s name came from the Argo language of the Western Province in Papua New Guinea, meaning “everyone working together to achieve something”.
“Which is exactly what we are doing,” she said.
The charity is also recruiting volunteers to help accelerate its expansion, with new roles including a fundraising co-ordinator, a grant writer and a social media manager.
The community is urged to donate, share the organisation’s story or organise local fundraising events.
For more visit www.bit.ly/48L904z
