Waiel Wapen Grade 5 at our New School in PNG says -
What do you enjoy most about school? I enjoy being together with other children who are the same age, reading books, doing maths work and having discussions.
What has been your favourite moment at school? Meeting new teachers who come from different parts of Papua New Guinea and also from different regions in the Province. Most favourite moments are, being with my teachers, playing ball games, sharing experiences, reading books, writing stories about Yangia people and many more. Mostly, of all I’m glad that school has been started in 2010, and I am beginning to learn some new things which I had never learnt before.
Read more in the latest Overseas Projects Update!!
Did you miss the opportunity to hear PK talk at your school? No worries: You can listen to his story in an interview podcast here.
After many months of planning, investigation and analysis, the Oaktree Projects Team are extremely proud to announce the selection of Oaktree’s first development project in Cambodia – The Beacon Schools Initiative.
Oaktree has chosen to support this particular project because it seeks to address systemic issues in the formal education system in Cambodia. Beacon Schools Initiative (BSI) is a groundbreaking education project initiated by local NGO, Kampuchean Action for Primary Education (KAPE).
Through the BSI Project our Cambodian project partner KAPE, will select 3 state secondary schools from some of the poorest provinces in Cambodia, and, over the course of 4 years, completely overhaul school operation, management and curriculum to ensure educational excellence for the poorest and most disadvantaged of Cambodian youth.
If you haven’t already signed the Act To End Poverty Petition maybe this will change your mind.
The following clip is a Vox Pop taken at the Vic S4S Conference held in March this year.
Hear from your peers on how young people can create change and what it takes to be a leader:
1000 Make Poverty History Ambassadors outside Parliament House
On the 8th of May 2010, 1000 young people embarked on a nationwide road trip to help end extreme poverty. Roadtrips departed from almost every capital city in the country, in order to spread the MAKE POVERTY HISTORY message and raise awareness of global poverty. This was Oaktree’s biggest campaign for the year, the largest youth run event of it’s kind in Australia. But what did we achieve?
In a week of controversy surrounding Australia’s aid contribution, Oaktree CEO Tom O’Connor writes:
USS Kearsarge Personnel Conduct Medical Assessment in Haiti | Photo by Flickr user DVIDSHUB
Commentators such as Steve Lewis have finally hit the mark when it comes to foreign aid. Going beyond the sensationalism and drama of aid consultants who are paid more than the Prime Minister, he argues “We should pause and consider a new Foreign Aid blueprint”.
He raises crucial questions Australians need to be asking their government: has Australian aid reached those most in need? Has it helped to save lives? Will it make a difference in the longer term?
In short, how do we make Australian aid the most effective in the world?
Punch On
Oaktree’s General Manager Nick Allardice wrote this article in The Punch today:
Australians’ obsession with interest rates and house prices is not the only symptom of an ‘affluence anxiety’ afflicting the nation. We have also cut ourselves off from the reality of life for every second child on the planet who lives in poverty and for the 80 per cent of people across the world who exist on less than $10 per day. The statistics of global poverty are staggering but before you think you’ve heard this all before and switch back to worrying about your own backyard, it is important to know that progress has been made. Lives have been saved and people have been lifted out of poverty.
Read More
School is back!
As you guys know the school in Yangis opened in February for the first time in 15 years!! We have recently received some fantastic news that the parents and community in Yangis are right behind the project. They have already completed two classroom buildings with available materials on site. They are now working on building teacher houses from traditional materials including thatch, clay, banana palm and pine. This is great news given that Pat’s visit discovered less community ownership and motivation than we had previously hoped. This reinvigoration is really due to Pat’s visit and his hard work in pushing the BUPNG to expect more of the community and for the community to expect more from themselves.
Phaka
Exciting news!!! The S4S team has selected Phakamani Ndlovu, a facilitator at Kwabazothini High School, in the Valley of 1000 hills to travel to Australia for the GOLD Speaking Tour. The selection process was heartbreaking for us. Over two weeks we interviewed seven GOLD facilitators from various implementing organizations. The applicants were truly inspiring to us. Each facilitator came from a different background and had a different story to tell. It was so hard for us to chose between facilitators, and even harder to call up unsuccessful applicants to tell them they were not going to Australia. I wish so much that we could have just sent all of them! Read More
