Eight-year-old Dircia (pictured above) loves to read. She is at the top of her Grade 2 class when it comes to reading and writing.
“I am getting better at reading and writing,” Dircia says. “My favourite book is Mountains and Rivers. It’s about mountains and rivers, and animals drinking water. There are elephants, dogs and giraffes.”
If Dircia’s circumstances were different, or if she had been born a generation earlier like her parents, she may not have learnt how to read or write. In Timor-Leste, where Dircia is from, children can spend years in primary school without learning to read.
The latest assessment of reading skills carried out by government consultants found that more than 70% of Timorese students at the end of Grade 1 could not read a single word, and 40% at the end of Grade 2.
With a
history marred by war and conflict, limited learning resources such as books,
and poorly trained teachers, have contributed to low literacy rates across the country.
This, in turn, has led to high rates of grade repetition and drop-outs in primary
schools.
Dircia is
an exception, but hopefully she will one day become the norm.
Through ChildFund Timor-Leste’s literacy project in Manatuto municipality, east of the capital Dili, Dircia has not only learnt to read and write, she is soaking up every piece of new information she discovers.
“In Mountains
and Rivers, I learnt that Mount Fuji is the highest mountain in Japan,” Dircia
says.
My name is Angela and I am 44 years old. I live in a village in Central Province that is a four-hour drive from Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea’s capital.
I have five children. My youngest child is four months old; he is the only one who has had all his routine vaccinations. The other four children have only had some of their routine vaccinations.
Before ChildFund Papua New Guinea came to my village, it was hard to get my children vaccinated. Our closest health facility is a one-hour walk from my home. If we are lucky they have vaccines in stock and my children receive their immunisations.
When vaccines are out of stock, the nurse refers us to the regional health centre, which is another three hours by foot.
I am not able to do the eight-hour walk to the health centre and back to my village with my children, so I just return home.
Since ChildFund began a maternal, child health and nutrition outreach program in my village, I have been depending on that for my baby to receive his routine immunisations.
I don’t worry about the long walk. ChildFund brings the health workers from the clinics to outreach sites in my village. I take my five children there.
I have been diagnosed with tuberculosis (TB) and I am supported by one of ChildFund’s community health volunteers.
She visits me every day and encourages me to take my medicine. She says TB is curable and I have to diligently take the medication to fully recover.
She encourages me to go to the outreach services and get my children vaccinated.
The Integrated Maternal and Child Health project is supported by the Australian Government through the Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP).
