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Quarterly Overseas Projects Update – Hot off the Press!!!

July 9, 2010  |  Overseas Projects  |  View Comments

PNG 03 02 429-1

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!!

PK- GOLD Ambassador: An Insight.

July 4, 2010  |  Schools 4 Schools  |  View Comments

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.

Cambodia Project Launched!

June 29, 2010  |  Overseas Projects, The Latest  |  View Comments

Cambodia

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.

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The Act To End Poverty

June 24, 2010  |  Media  |  View Comments

If you haven’t already signed the Act To End Poverty Petition maybe this will change your mind.

How can young people create change?

June 11, 2010  |  Schools 4 Schools  |  View Comments

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:

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MAKE POVERTY HISTORY Roadtrip – Our Impact

June 2, 2010  |  The Latest  |  View Comments

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?

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Aid effectiveness concerns hit the mark. So what now?

May 25, 2010  |  Media, The Latest  |  View Comments

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?

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Ending poverty does come at a price: 70 cents

May 21, 2010  |  Media  |  View Comments

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.
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Schools’ Back in Yangis!

May 21, 2010  |  Overseas Projects  |  View Comments

 

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.

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Phakamani to visit S4S schools!

May 21, 2010  |  Schools 4 Schools  |  View Comments

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