On the outskirts of the Rigo Province in Papua New Guinea, Rogai 45-years-old, is giving children in his village the best education he can. Ragai is a dedicated teacher at Ginigolo School and wants all the children in his village to go to achieve higher education and have a bright future.
“I started teaching back in 2003, because I wanted to help grow the school so the children could learn,” he said.
ChildFund Papua New Guinea (CFPNG) began working with Ginigolo school in 2018. The school of approximately 300 students and six teachers is part of a five-year program to build the capacity of teachers and improving the outcomes for children. So far, the program has supported 252 teachers across the Rigo and Central Provinces.
Although all teachers complete their formal education, many do not have access to long-term professional development opportunities. The CFPNG program offers a variety of training and mentorship opportunities to support teachers to become better educators.
“There were only two teachers here before, for all the children. But slowly things have started to improve. Now we have six teachers and five classrooms.”
Ragai took part in the CFPNG training to upskill their teaching skills in classroom management, curriculum development, literacy and numeracy skills, teaching art and physical education. After the training, Ragai joined a Teacher Learning Circle (TLC) group with other teachers in his province.
“The TLC groups brings more ideas to the school. We all come together and share. The school is now two or three levels better than before.”
The TLCs are a way for teachers to come together, identify their needs, skills, and come up with creative ways to overcome the challenges they are facing. They organise monthly meetings after school or the late afternoon that run for up to two hours. Some teachers in his group travel up to two hours to attend.
“The TLCs also helped us learn more about classroom management. Before, the kids would come and run around, but now they know how to behave in a classroom and what is expected of them when they come here to learn.”
The program worked with teachers from participating schools to setup a WhatsApp group chat where the teachers can share different ideas and ways of working. They also use this as a group chat to celebrate each other’s successes.
Together, teachers learn and exchange new techniques for teaching, how to manage a classroom, and discuss how they can improve learning outcomes for their students. Peer to peer learning is one idea from this group that has been successfully implemented in the classroom.
“Peer to peer education is really effective. Sometimes I pair one who can read well with one who doesn’t read as well so they can help each other. The students are doing a lot better in reading and writing than in some other schools around here.”
Ragai is passionate about teaching, explaining that he has a personal connection to this school. “I love seeing the children continue to learn. My son went through this school, and now he is in his second year of a business degree. I want that for the other children too.”
Ragai is optimistic about the changes he is seeing and what this means for the future of the children in his village. “Seeing the children grow up. That’s my favourite thing. And then seeing what they go and do. They’ll go off but when they see you, they say that’s my teacher. They always come back to say hi.”
With support from other teachers and CFPNG, learning outcomes for children are improving. “The constant support and mentoring from the CFPNG staff have been very helpful. With this support, the schools are changing bit by bit. The parents are more supportive and care more about their children’s education.”
A tragedy behind closed doors
Millions of children across the Pacific are experiencing high levels of domestic violence, including in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. For the vast majority of children, this violence is happening in a place where they should feel safest: their homes and communities.
By ChildFund Australia
The following story contains content that may be distressing for some readers.
Elizabeth* is four years old but she already bears the painful scars of abuse that far too many people experience in life.
Elizabeth is from a poor community in Papua New Guinea, where domestic violence – mainly against women and children – is common in families and households. For months, Elizabeth, was physically abused by one of the people who should have loved her most – her father.
Elizabeth had been left in the care of her father when her mother needed to move far away for work.
It was about a year after Elizabeth had moved in with her father when her aunt, Maggie*, discovered the abuse. Elizabeth’s father had sent images of the abuse to Elizabeth’s mother, threatening to kill her and Elizabeth.
Maggie* was terrified for Elizabeth’s life. She had learnt about a phone counselling service for survivors of violence, the 1-Tok Kaunselin Helpim Lain, through a text message campaign, and called the helpline.
Maggie shared her story and fears with a helpline counsellor, who provided her with support and reported Elizabeth’s case to police, and welfare and child protection services.
The counsellor helped Maggie access emergency funds so that Elizabeth could be removed from her father as soon as possible and move into a safe place with Maggie.
Today, Elizabeth is living with her mother again. Elizabeth’s father has been charged, and Elizabeth and her mother have protection orders in place.
Maggie has been in touch with the helpline counsellors, providing them with updates on Elizabeth’s wellbeing. She said Elizabeth and her mother were both safe and living at peace. All this would not have been possible, Maggie said, without the support of the counsellors and emergency funds that were secured through the 1-Tok Kaunselin Helpim Lain service.
*Names have been changed to protect individuals’ identities.
‘Our mothers, sisters, daughters and wives are suffering from a weak protection system’
Millions of children like Elizabeth across the Pacific, including Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, where ChildFund works, are experiencing high levels of domestic violence including physical, emotional and sexual abuse, as well as neglect. For the vast majority of children, this violence is happening in a place where they should feel safest: their homes and communities.
With the COVID-19 pandemic, reports of domestic violence increased around the world along with social isolation, unemployment and alcohol use.
In Papua New Guinea, more than 2 in 3 women and girls experience some form of physical or sexual violence in their lifetime.
Ivodia Malio, a Senior Counsellor with the 1-Tok Kaunselin Helpim Lain, said the rates of violence in Papua New Guinea were “concerning”.
“There is a great need for family and sexual violence services to work together to develop better strategies to address the high rates of violence in the country,” she said.
“The 1-Tok Kaunselin Helpim Lain is doing great work to assist vulnerable women and children to be safe. Perpetrators are also calling the helpline for support to change their abusive and violent behaviours.”
Ivodia’s colleague and fellow helpline counsellor, Simon Karapus, said domestic violence services in Papua New Guinea needed to be overhauled and strengthened: “Our mothers, sisters, daughters and wives are suffering from a weak protection system,” he said.
The 1-Tok Kaunselin Helpim Lain is the first toll-free helpline for survivors and perpetrators of violence in PNG. It was established in 2015 by ChildFund and local partners in response to PNG’s high rates of violence.
Helpline counsellors have received more than 50,000 calls since the service was launched in 2015. The success of the helpline has led to ChildFund supporting a similar crisis counselling service in the Solomon Islands.
In the Solomon Islands, 2 in 3 women between the ages of 15 and 49 have experienced physical and/or sexual violence by an intimate partner. More than a third of these women experienced sexual abuse as a child.
The success of the 1-Tok Kaunselin Helpim Lain service in Papua New Guinea has led to ChildFund supporting a similar crisis helpline in the Solomon Islands.
How your donation can protect children from domestic violence
Ensuring children are safe and free from domestic violence is a collaborative effort between development organisations such as ChildFund, and children, their communities, and local governments.
With your help, vulnerable children and their families can access the immediate and long-term support they need to be safe. ChildFund is working with local partners to provide not only services such as crisis counselling and referrals to safe houses, we are also working with governments and communities to strengthen child protection systems. Your donation will also help educate and empower young people to raise awareness and lead advocacy activities in their communities that focus on peace promotion, conflict prevention, and respectful relationships.
Helplines and counsellors: Train and upskill counsellors for Papua New Guinea’s 1-Tok Kaunselin Helpim Lain service, which provides immediate and long-term support to survivors of violence.
Youth Peace & Protection Champions: Educate and empower young people to raise awareness and lead advocacy activities in their communities that focus on preventing and resolving conflicts peacefully, prevention of violence, and respectful relationships.
Child protection frontline workers: Train social workers, counsellors, village court officials, and staff at safe shelters and family support centres, on women’s and children’s rights, and case management.
You can help stop violence against children.
