Hundreds
of primary school children in Timor-Leste now have access to a free digital
library for the first time to help them improve their reading skills.
ChildFund Timor-Leste and our partner Library for All have introduced the digital library, stored on tablets, to more than 600 students in some of the country’s most disadvantaged communities in Manatuto municipality. This project is supported by the Australian Government through the Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP).
Students from Grade 1 to Grade 3 can choose from 130 titles, including stories
written by local authors in Tetun and developed by Timor-Leste’s Ministry of
Education.
School co-ordinator Engracia from Beboro Primary
says the digital library provides students with a diverse range of
age-appropriate reading materials that they would otherwise not be able to
access.
“At
our school the children have read the same books many times,” she says. “They
have been needing new ones, and there have not been enough books for every
child to read at the same time. They usually have to take turns.”
The new technology has been welcomed by students
and teachers, who were trained on how to use the and manage the library at the
start of July.
Grade 3 student Paula says: “I am happy because we can read more stories together.”
Nine-year-old Baltazar, who is also in Grade
3, has enjoyed choosing from a variety of books to read. “I like the stories
and pictures; they’re good,” he says.
ChildFund is deeply concerned about the recent spike in COVID-19 cases in Papua New Guinea, and is working with government officials and other non-government organisations in the nation’s capital of Port Moresby and Central Province to ensure children and vulnerable communities are protected.
This includes helping to reduce stigma and break down any barriers
that may prevent people from remote communities from getting tested for
COVID-19.
ChildFund Papua New Guinea Country Director Bridgette Thorold said:
“It is important that people, especially people in remote areas, know how and
when to get tested.
“We are extremely
worried that this virus could spread to remote villages undetected, and that would
be disastrous. That is why we need to continue to educate the public and provide
vital health information and advice to families and communities.”
The new lockdown provisions announced by the PNG government last week threaten to further disrupt TB and other essential health programs in the country.
Not only
will healthcare workers and organisations like ChildFund be prevented from
travelling to rural communities to conduct outreach programs, but children and
families will be unable to journey to clinics, which are often located long
distances from their homes.
The number of COVID-19
cases in PNG has been growing at an accelerated pace in recent weeks following
an outbreak at Port Moresby General Hospital.
A fortnight ago, Papua New Guinea had 11 confirmed cases. That
number increased to 32 last Friday, before jumping to 62 confirmed cases on
Sunday 26 July 2020.
Although the majority of cases are linked to the hospital, there
are concerns the disease is more widespread and that people are not getting
tested because they fear discrimination, or have little understanding of the
disease and how infectious it is.
ChildFund has been helping to break down these barriers by
integrating COVID-19 prevention into all its work.
In recent months, this has included expanding our 1 Tok Kaunselin Helpim Lain, which has now been resourced with additional counsellors to respond to the increased number of calls relating to family violence, while also providing information about COVID-19.
In addition to the health risks posed by the virus, ChildFund has warned of the detrimental impacts of the pandemic on vulnerable children.
A report released by ChildFund Australia in June warned that there may be an explosion of infectious diseases in Papua New Guinea as a result of the diversion of health resources to the COVID-19 response.
The ChildFund report also warned the already overwhelmed health
system in PNG will struggle if there is a significant outbreak of COVID-19.
Port Moresby General Hospital, which provides healthcare support to
those living in the nation’s capital as well as communities in Central Province,
has been forced to scale down its services as a result of the recent COVID-19 outbreak.
“The measures that are put in place to prevent the spread of the disease
are essential, but we are concerned that these measures may come at a cost,”
Bridgette said.
“PNG already has dangerously low levels of vaccination, and has
fewer than 1,000 doctors. For many years now it has been struggling to deal
with an ongoing tuberculosis epidemic.
“These services are as
important as ever.”
