What started as a simple project to paint walls and install lights became a transformative effort for genocide survivors in Rwanda, turning a rundown building into a vital space for healing and rebuilding lives.
While on leave, Private Caleb Walker helped repair a Rwandan mental health facility and was named an ambassador for the Jonathan Church Good Soldiering Award.
Alongside a team from his church in Shellharbour, NSW, he travelled to Africa to help renovate the building.
“We fixed water damage, installed a driveway and water tanks, and set up offices with a separate yoga space,” Private Walker said.
The team funded the project and enlisted locals to assist.
On a recent visit, he saw how the space now supports administration, counselling and employment services.
“The victims and their families now have a comfortable, professional space to work out of,” he said.
With several trips under his belt and another planned next year, his drive to return is infectious.
“It’s like a bug; once you go, you can’t stop going back – it’s an adventure every time,” he said.
Private Walker has built relationships that will continue to draw him back to Africa.
“It’s not just the work – it’s getting to know the people, valuing their stories, and becoming part of the community,” he said.
This year, recipients of the Jonathan Church Good Soldiering Award embarked on a battlefield tour in PNG.
‘At first, the kids hung back, but once I gestured for a ball, we found common ground and bonded over soccer.’
Private Walker retraced Lark Force’s escape route, walking in the footsteps of Australian soldiers who were forced to flee Rabaul after it was captured by Japanese forces during World War 2.
Private Walker, an infantry soldier, found the trek demanding, despite training for it.
“It wasn’t just climbing mountains, but crossing creeks and navigating difficult changing terrain for hours,” he said.
The trek took the group through villages, some coastal, others only accessible by foot.
“At first, the kids hung back, but once I gestured for a ball, we found common ground and bonded over soccer,” he said.
Private Walker stood at Tol, a site where Japanese soldiers massacred 160 Australians.
He read at the memorial service honouring the 2/22nd Battalion and the 1053 Australians who drowned aboard the Montevideo Maru.
Along the way to Tol, Private Walker briefed the contingent on Private Bill Harry, renowned for his bravery during the New Guinea Campaign in WW2 when he helped rescue Australian soldiers evading capture from Japanese forces.
In 1942, as Japanese forces advanced, Private Harry was part of a group of 17 soldiers led by Lieutenant Colonel Carr that fled Rabaul for the south coast, navigating the rugged Baining Mountains.
The Australians went days without food, occasionally finding villages with taro, pineapple and pawpaw to sustain them.
Private Harry knew the rugged terrain well from previous patrols, allowing him to seek help from local villages as his group struggled.
‘It’s not just the work – it’s getting to know the people, valuing their stories, and becoming part of the community.’
Near Cape Comoron, a local at Setwi village handed a note to one of Lieutenant Colonel Carr’s men.
The familiar script read, “Advise return immediately. New Plan.”
The message came from Australians 40km north in Kalai, where Lieutenant Colonel Carr’s group had passed through several days earlier.
With many in the group too ill to travel, Private Harry was chosen to connect with the other group to gain further information. He was given four days to complete the task.
Armed with a light automatic pistol and told to live off the land, he crossed Wide Bay by canoe with the help of locals, then travelled on foot.
After meeting Lieutenant Frank Holland, he learnt of the evacuation plan to cross the Gazelle peninsular to the north.
Private Harry raced back across formidable terrain to inform Lieutenant Colonel Carr, travelling about 80km in 30 hours.
Continuing south, Private Harry informed 200 soldiers scattered in the jungles of East New Britain, including Major Bill Owen, of the evacuation plan.
The men were in terrible condition and dying at a rate of two to three a day.
Eventually, 156 men were rescued by HMAS Laurabada from the south coast of New Britain and taken to Port Moresby.
After running the gauntlet, their ordeal ended when they were transferred to Cairns three days later.
