A 40 foot shipping container has now been successfully delivered to the school site with great fanfare and excitement. The container was full of school desks and chairs, primary school reading books, Days4Girls supplies and other items donated through DIK Geelong to be distributed to Lese Oalai and other villages in the Gulf Province. The container will then be converted into the first ever library for the school and is the first step in the program to redevelop the Lese Oalai school.
To give you some idea of the importance of this event. On arrival of the container:
- the Catholic Parish Priest did the opening prayer before the container was opened
- the PNG Education Inspection Officer gave permission for the school to be closed for the day, so that the teachers can concentrate on distribution of donations
- 2 Police officers (called Peace Officers) were standing guard at the school entry gate and they were advised to only allow authorised people in
- Thomas Kose (school maintenance personnel) unlocked the container seal in the presence of volunteers of The Peter N Loko Foundation, Karea Primary school teachers, Sikalu Elementary teachers, and elders of the Lese Oalai community
- All recipient schools organised and paid for their own transport to take the donations back to their schools. Many of the highland villagers did this by canoe!
The pictures and the short video on this link will give you an idea of the importance of the work we are doing to assist these villagers to educate their children.
This component of the Lese Oalai school redevelopment program was an integrated international partnership with:
- Australia High Commission PNG Direct Aid Program
- RARE Southern DIK Geelong
- Rotary Club of Boroko PNG
- Rotary Club of Torquay
- Rotary Club Bayside Geelong
- Kerema DDA PNG/Gulf Provincial Government PNG
- The Peter Nathan Loko Foundation Inc. PNG
- PNG Gulf Association of Queensland
