Achieving selfreliance, health and quality of life in Papua New Guinea’s Western Province communities
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Special Education program to expand from funding support
Special Education students during the closeup of the school year
St Gilles Elementary School in Kiunga received a donation of K60,000 from three Women & Children’s Associations from the Community Mine Continuation Agreement (CMCA); Nima Ara, Tutuwe Ara, and Nupmo representatives made the presentation on 1 December 2021.
Special Education Coordinator, Doris Amboman, from Callan Service Kiunga said the first intake of 113 children enrolled in February 2018.
“This program is a preparatory stage before mainstreaming to Elementary School level. Mostly teaching and learning through games, simple play activities to teach letters shapes, sounds & phonics, rhymes, colours, and prereading. The service enables students to learn basic writing and calculations and having a feeling of being in a classroom setting, before entering formal elementary prep education,” she said.
“The donation will help us to build a new double classroom because there is a need at the moment. Secondly, there is no Inclusive Education teacher in Ningerum because of accommodation issues. So this donation will help build a house so we can have a qualified teacher to support the Early Childhood Education Program in Ningerum.”
As a church-run school, the children are also taught good behaviour and simple prayers to begin the day, greetings, and to have a happy relationship with others.
The school offers special education for children aged 4 years to 6/7 years.
“We accept older children who have not been to school and wish to know some basics before going to elementary.”
“We get support from the church in the form of education tuition fee subsidy that comes to Callan Services Inclusive/Special Education component which we use to buy uniforms, stationery, chairs, blackboards, sports equipment, and built the first classroom from.
“My role as the Program Coordinator is to ensure teachers are happy and given some training through in-service and to seek opportunities for the growth and development of the school.
Also, encourage the Board of Management and the parents to take ownership and care of the facilities and have concern for their children’s future. I see also the importance of working closely with teachers in the other schools in Ningerum, the church leaders, local and government leaders to maintain our good partnership.”
She thanked the Women & Children’s Associations from Tutuwe, Waitri, and Nupmo and the partnership with OTDF for the timely donation and worthwhile commitment.
Reboot2Kids program share with Kiunga kids
Eden Chung Founder of the “Reboot2kids” program – supplied picture
The family of a former employee of Ok Tedi Mining Limited is helping to ‘reboot’ the lives of children in Kiunga.
For Mr. Damien Chung and his family, a part of their history lies in the hearts of the Star Mountains of Papua New Guinea as his daughter Ms. Eden Chung explains. Giving back to the province they once called home is their way of saying ‘Wesso’ meaning thank you (in the Oksapmin language of Sandaun).
This year the recipient schools were Gretutu Primary School, St Gabriel’s Technical Secondary School, and Rumginae Community Health Workers Training Center. A total of Seven Computers, 12 tablets, and a box filled with school shoes and football boots were donated by the Chung family for use by the schools here in Kiunga.
Eden Chung had this to say about her dad’s memories of Papua New Guinea.
“Papua New Guinea is a long way from Switzerland, where I live, but “lik lik pikinini” and “kai kai bilong ting ting” are tok pisin phrases which I hear often at our dinner table from my father who grew up in Wewak and later worked in Tabubil. I also saw photos of his visits to villages near Tabubil where little children guided him on climbing and caving expeditions. Each time he visited he would bring pens, pencils, and notebooks as gifts. From photographs, I also noticed the simple village school facilities and that none of the kids wore shoes.
A few years ago when I was figuring out ways to reduce waste as well as improve digital literacy among school children without access, I decided to collect unused football boots as well as electronic equipment to deliver to schools that might be happy to give them a second life. This became “Reboot2kids”. Naturally, PNG came to mind very easily; instead of pens and paper notebooks, how about electronic tablets, laptops, or football boots for the kids in the villages? I am very happy to have connected with OTDF as we benefited from the foundation’s network in Western Province and it allowed us to connect easily with potential schools.
In the process of setting up this project, I also discovered the issue of poor water quality affecting many children in remote areas. Using local resources here in Switzerland I have educated myself on this subject and have published a book called “Water Well; A Resource on Clean Water for Local Communities” to assist local administrators as well as an app version for school children. This has become the Water Well project (waterwell.org) and I hope it will also be of use to Ok Tedi Development Foundation.”
A wonderful example of servant leadership by a teenager who goes to such lengths to launch a project combining her two passions (football and technology). Reboot2Kids collects used information and communications technology devices (ICT) and gently-used football boots to ‘reboot’ them for the benefit of school children in developing countries.
About us: Reboot2Kids
MISSION
Reboot2Kids is an organisation founded to help school children in developing countries access clean water, with water treatment, digital literacy, educational and participative projects. Once kids have clean drinking water, they are healthier and have more time to learn and play. Computer labs are provided to teach digital literacy, but also educate school communities about water issues and we will support them in taking an active part in the solutions. Our support is tailored to each school’s particular situation.
Food Security Survey highlights
Community food security survey team at Pukaduka 1 village, Suki Fly Gogo
The recent Food Security Baseline Survey conducted by OTDF showed communities along the river can survive from cultivating garden produce and daily fish catch.
The survey was conducted from 25 June to 6 August 2021, in the South and Middle Fly regions of Western Province.
The information paves way for sustainable management of current food sources with the introduction of maize and rice farming for possible income generation arrangements.
From this baseline data, development partners can work closely with communities to better apply the concept of sustainable agriculture and fishing to support household livelihood.
The survey team visited communities in the Middle Fly, Suki Fly Gogo, Manawete, Dudi, and Kiwaba. From the target sample size of 85 villages, the team visited 74 villages with 883 samples collected from a target of 1,275 interviewees.
The Food Security Program expands on four key dimensions of food (nutrition) security areas which are to strengthen food availability, accessibility, utilization, and stability for healthy and sustainable livelihoods beyond mine closure.
Team Leader Regional Development Philemon Nauhet said this information establishes the foundation for the Food Security Program which the National Agriculture Research Institute (NARI) will provide technical advice and research support after the signing of the MOU.
OTDF developed the survey comprising five household survey questions on family demographics, food availability, food accessibility, food utilization, and food stability.
The survey was a success with the use of technology; tablets and smartphone apps made data collection efficient in real-time reducing errors and data loss.
Who We Are
Each executive and board member, team and individual involved with OTDF is an essential part of achieving the goal of allowing the residents of Western Province to have greater choices in mapping out their own direction to live better lives.
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Executive Management
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Board Members
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Our Partners
What We Do
Operating independently of OTML since 2009, we are proud to have 50 full-time staff, 60 part-time staff, and committed volunteers throughout Western Province dedicated to ensuring our objectives and goals are aligned with those of the communities for which we serve.
To date, we have achieved significant outcomes across our investment portfolio and all five pillars of CMCA community development.
Economic Development
From inception as an independent organisation in 2010, OTDF has worked tirelessly with the CMCA communities to establish family and village-based economic and food production options.
Women's & Youth Development
Developing women and youth aspirations following the intensive consultative community engagement in the communities and mine villages.
Infrastructure Development
OTDF continues to focus on infrastructure delivery for communities to gain easier access to regional centres and government services, and to get produce to markets.
Community Health
The OTDF Strategic 5-year plan goal for the Health Sector is the CMCA primary health care service delivery strengthened and in line with the Western Province & National Health Plans.
Community Education
The OTDF Education Sector goals are to improve to quality education services, improve teacher education and training.
Our Communities
Western Province
North Fly District
Middle Fly District
South Fly District
Annual Reports
Our latest Annual Report is a comprehensive report of what OTDF has achieved and defines/outlines our ongoing priorities and goals going forward.
Newsletters
Each month, our OTDF media team creates a PDF newsletter that encapsulates the many activities and achievements by OTDF, partners and communities.
Contact Us
OTDF is committed to cooperation and integration of ideas from our community, therefore, we are always interested in what you have to say.