Cairns charity founder prepares to deliver life-saving birth skills training abroad
Gulagbi Founder Shelly Langford, left, with other members of The Lao Birthwork Project delivering birth skills training in Laos.
FNQ Charity Launches New Digital Hub to Empower Mothers and Remote Communities
Gulgabi opens an online donation portal and calls for volunteers to expand life-changing projects in FNQ, PNG, Laos and beyond.
As global attention turns to community-driven sustainability and maternal wellbeing, a small FNQ charity is making waves across international borders supporting mothers and babies locally and abroad.
Cairns-based charity Gulagbi Collaborative Sustainable Developments Ltd (Gulagbi) has recently launched its new website and project hub, and is now inviting new sponsorships, donors and volunteers as it expands its reach across Far North Queensland, Papua New Guinea, Laos and beyond.
Founded by local perinatal bodyworker and 2025 Cairns International Women’s Day Women’s Recognition Award recipient Shelly Langford, Gulagbi has grown from a grassroots initiative into a registered charity delivering sustainable, culturally grounded maternal health and community projects, with a growing voluntary team of FNQ-based maternity care and allied health professionals as well as local mothers passionate about supporting its mission.
Gulagbi has already helped PNG nationals transferred to Thursday Island and Cairns for emergency medical treatment, as well as delivering sustainability and infrastructure projects to remote PNG communities. Bootstrapped projects include the installation of a Sky Hydrant filtration system to provide clean drinking water to an entire village.
Gulagbi is also working in collaboration with other not-for-profit organisations to support midwifery care and birth skills training projects in Laos and Guatemala, and now has its sights set on delivering its own postpartum care project to support mothers, babies and families right here in Far North Queensland.
Highlighting the need for urgent donations, Ms Langford is returning to Laos in January as part of a hand picked team of highly skilled birthworkers representing the Lao Birthwork Project, delivering life-saving birth skills to medical practitioners in remote mountain communities.
Founder and Director Shelly Langford said Gulagbi’s new website and online donation portal marks an exciting new chapter and makes it easier than ever for corporate sponsors and community members alike to gift an ongoing or one-off donation.
“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.”
The name Gulagbi comes from the Argo language of the Western Province in Papua New Guinea and means ‘everyone working together to achieve something’.
“Which is exactly what we are doing,” adds Ms Langford.
“The organisation is driven by the belief that lasting change happens when communities, families and partners join hands - locally and globally - to create healthier, stronger futures together. We now need sponsors who share our vision to continue this important work, and we know there are organisations in our community looking for ways to support projects like ours, especially in the lead up to Christmas.
“We invite everyone in Cairns and Far North Queensland - from local families to businesses - to join us in this next chapter. Every gift, big or small, helps us extend our services, reach more families in need and sustain culturally safe care.”
The group has also launched a campaign to recruit volunteer members including a fundraising co-ordinator, grant writer and social media manager.
Get involved:
Visit www.gulagbi.org.au to learn more, donate or volunteer.
Share our story with your networks and local media.
Organise a workplace, school or community fundraising event to support our projects
Gulagbi is endorsed as a Deductible Gift Recipient meaning all donations are tax deductible.
Gulagbi Founder Shelly Langford will return to Laos in January to continue delivering life-saving emergency birth skills to clinicians in Laos, in collaboration with The Lao Birthwork Project.