For most people, opening a bank account is no great event but for remote communities in Rigo district, Papua New Guinea it is a momentous occasion which means a huge step forward for financial inclusion, security and stability in their lives.
Almost 85% of Papua New Guineans are subsistence farmers or fishermen in rural areas, where access to basic and government services is almost non-existent. Poor roads make access to the majority of communities difficult, infrastructure is limited and there are ever-present law and order problems.
With this in mind, ChildFund is working with children and their communities in Rigo district to improve their income and food security. Our backyard farming project is helping to train farmers in better agricultural methods and provide necessary equipment to grow their crops. This is a wonderful initiative which is allowing farmers to increase their crop production so they can expand their income earning capacity by selling their surplus crops.
However as the potential for the farmers to grow cash crops on a larger scale increases, access to financial services becomes essential to manage their income. For these communities opening a bank account would usually require a long and rough trek down often inaccessible roads into Port Moresby (the capital of Papua New Guinea) from the mountains. This is followed by hours in bank queues and then weeks until bank cards are ready.
This is why ChildFund is working with Bank South Pacific (BSP) and the Fresh Produce Development Agency to bring better access to income security for communities. BSP is now conducting community visits to establish bank accounts for farmers. Christine Lauve and her husband are vegetable farmers from Magautou village in Rigo who have benefitted from the mobile banking initiative.
Christine and her husband grow peanuts, zucchini, capsicum and corn to sell to hotels and shops in Port Moresby. Until now, Christine has kept her hard-earned money in a ‘safe’ corner of their village. Now that Christine and her husband have opened a bank account they are able to securely save their money for their family`s future. Through saving from the sale of their backyard produce, Christine is very excited to be much closer to her dream of owning and operating a public motor vehicle (PMV) truck on the Magi Highway, the main access route to Port Moresby, to transport her produce.
Access to mobile banking, EFTPOS and electronic payments is reducing the amount of cash-handling and enables rural farmers to access new markets in Port Moresby as buyers are now able to make payments directly into farmers` accounts. As in anyone`s case, direct account payments mean farmers are no longer spending all their cash immediately €“ instead they are able to budget, save and spend wisely.
ChildFund PNG`s two-fold project in rural Papua New Guinea is contributing to sustainable grass-roots development which is helping communities to invest in a better future for their children.
At a primary school in Timor-Leste, parents are becoming more involved in their children’s education through the Parent-Teacher Association.
In partnership with AusAID, ChildFund Australia is funding a project to promote child-friendly preschools and primary schools. One of the program’s objectives is to strengthen schools and their communities through active PTAs.
Read about what the parents have to say below, and how their involvement is improving the school experience for students.
What does the PTA program involve?
“As a member of the PTA, I have to help so that my children will have a comfortable classroom,” says Madalena, a mother of four.
Two of her children attend a primary school in the Bobonaro district, where 17 Early Childhood Development (ECD) centers and 13 primary schools participate in the program, with more than 4,000 children benefiting.
Parents and teachers are expected to understand their roles and responsibilities and how they can contribute to their child-friendly school.
How does the program relates to other ChildFund projects?
ChildFund is not new to Madalena; her children all benefit in different ways from projects run by our national office in Timor-Leste and Hamutuk, a local partner organisation.
Her second child, Ricardo is a fifth-grader and her third-born is in second grade. Her daughter also attends an ECD center in the same compound as her son’s school. Ricardo has had an Aussie sponsor since 2007.
How the PTA program is involving parents in their child’s education
Madalena helped cook and provided vegetables and bread for workers who were renovating the school recently. She also was happy to assume the responsibility of supervising quality control whenever the workers asked her to check the alignment of blocks and proper placement of ceilings.
She excitedly anticipated the end result: a comfortable learning space for the schoolchildren.
What impact has the PTA program had in the school?
Before, children endured leaking roofs, which disrupted their learning, as well as unsecured doors and windows, which allowed the entry of stray animals into classrooms. Madalena says that before starting classes in the morning, the children had to clean the classrooms and the land around the school, putting their health at risk and reducing learning time.
But, today, with the help of parents, teachers and students, the school is more comfortable and has proper chairs and tables for the children. Teachers now have space to prepare their lesson plans and keep school records in a renovated faculty room. Madalena added that rehabilitated classrooms are not only good for students but for the entire community.
A mother’s hopes for the future
Still, the school has remaining challenges; animals continue to enter the school premises because there is no perimeter fence, and there’s no safe drinking water. Children also are at risk because the school is dangerously close to the community’s main road.
The PTA`s participation continues to be very important in improving the condition of the school, says Madalena, and she hopes more parents will participate as time goes on.
If you’d like to see ChildFund implement more programs like these, which improve the quality of children’s education in the countries where we work, we need your help.
Our Gifts for Good range contains a variety of education-focused charity gifts. This includes school kits, bags, library books, safe study desks, all of which will help parents like Madalena create quality learning experiences for their children.
