Children`s Day is a huge annual community celebration which ChildFund organises in all of the communities we work with in Papua New Guinea. Aimed at the children, the day highlights the work and successes of child sponsorship in bringing about change in education, health, livelihoods and nutrition.
Kokorogoro is about three hour`s drive from Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea. Children`s Day in Kokorogoro brings together children and communities from six villages ChildFund PNG works with.
This year`s Children`s Day in Kokorogoro coincided with the National Primary Schools Book Week program, which was raising awareness of the importance of education. So we decided to focus the day on education and learning, with activities around public speaking, the arts and music.
We had a great turn out from all of the communities that make up the Kokorogoro area. The weather was fine and the day went off without a hitch, despite the challenges that led up to the event.
At the last minute the community decided to postpone the event due to local level government elections and a sudden death in one of the communities. Whilst postponing the event did cause inconvenience for all it was crucial that we listened to the wishes of community members and delayed the event out of respect for the deceased, his family and the whole community. The mutual respect and appreciation we hold for the communities we work in is very important to all staff at ChildFund PNG.
However, through persistence, hard work and patience we rescheduled the day. I feel proud of what the ChildFund team accomplished and I am very happy that this year`s Children`s Day was a success and enjoyed by all of the children.
Our day consisted of lots of dancing, singing and performing. We also had a display of reading books on offer to the children. Speeches were given by kids from four communities, ChildFund PNG staff and community representatives. Gift items, including healthcare packs, educational tools and equipment were also given to the children and their families, schools, local field staff and community members in recognition of their hard work and support.
As the day wrapped up members of two of the villages got up and sung a song they had written about ChildFund PNG and thanking the ChildFund staff for their contributions to making a difference in their lives. Varina, a ChildFund driver, also participated in the singing with his fellow community members. One of our staff members was even mentioned in the song, which surprised us all!
Their song was a wonderful way to end a great day. It made me feel proud of the work we do to support the children and their families of Kokorogoro.
At the end of the bumpy road to Children`s Day, I know we have made a difference in the Kokorogoro communities and I feel confident that ChildFund PNG can continue to help build brighter futures for their children.
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.
