New Classroom for Mutinneo Pre-school in 9 Mile
September 14th 2009 - New classroom for Mutinneo pre-school in 9 MileDigicel Foundation first visited the Mutinneo settlement pre-school a few months ago and was very impressed by the great work being done by the local couple, Tirimo and Gaume Zakemo, and their community helpers. It was their joint vision to start a pre-school in the settlement of 9 Mile. 9 Mile is one of the largest settlements in Port Moresby but has no basic education services within the settlement to teach the young children to read and write. The Zakemo couple therefore started raising funds from their own pocket to construct a bush material shelter to start off the pre-school. With the support from the community they have been successfully running the pre-school, consisting of a bush material classroom and a semi permanent library, for more than 2 years. Until now they have received no support from the outside.
The Digicel Foundation especially recognizes those communities that are active in helping themselves with the little resources they have. The CLC will be used primarily as an extra classroom for the growing number of children, which has increased to nearly 100, over the last 2 months time.
It is the Digicel Foundation’s strong belief that Education should be accessible to all even those who cannot afford school fees. The earlier children learn numeracy and literacy the more chance they will have in leading a better life.
The community is also being encouraged to use the new facility as a community resource for adult literacy, skilled-based training, cooking and sewing for women, and HIV/AIDS awareness depending on the specific needs of the community.
This is only the beginning as the Digicel Foundation has earmarked a dozen other communities, not only in POM but also in the Highlands Region, for the launch of a Community Learning Centre over the next few months. Digicel Foundation plans on rolling out a total of 40 CLC’s in PNG by the end of March next year.
Since the launch of the Foundation last year October, 29 Community Learning Centres, 4 school building projects, a Meri Seif Haus and the first Mobile Clinic have been established. A further 2 school building projects, the funding of a Family Support Centre and a second Mobile Clinic have already been initiated. Over the next year the Foundation plans to fund more projects that aim at supporting communities to become more self-reliant in the future.
