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children waiting for a classroom February 2022
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Children in "Classroom" February 2022
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A classroom in Lese Oalai
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LO school girls pit toilets for 1,000 students
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temporary classroom built recently
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Section of the row of classrooms at Lese Oalai
| Summary: | The Lese Oalai junior school in the Gulf Province of PNG, is responsible for education of local children from grades prep to 3. There are 560 children currently attending, but this is likely to grow. Literacy rates in the Gulf Province are only 4.1%. The Lese Oalai village school was built in the mid 20th century and is now derelict and quite unsafe to use. Flooding rains from the Owen Stanley Ranges have left the school derelict. The Rotary Clubs of Torquay and Bayside Geelong seek to provide the opportunity to rebuild the school facilities and continue providing education materials and equipment in collaboration with Donations-In-Kind (Geelong), the Peter Nathan Loko Foundation, the Rotary Club of Boroko (PNG) and the PNG Gulf Association of Queensland. |
| Challenge: | The school buildings need to be replaced and the teachers accommodation needs to be refurbished. The total funds required to purchase these materials is AUD$500,000.
As well the "pit" toilets attract water borne diseases, an uncomfortable smell from the toilets, unhygienic, and need to be replaced. The heavy rain brings with it dead tadpoles and worms washed onto the school grounds. When the school grounds are dry, the unbearable potent smell means school is closed until further notice.
There is no power or water delivered to either the school or the town |
| Solution: | The community has been trying to rebuild this school for decades, but requests to the government have not been answered. The community are committed to build it themselves, but cannot afford construction materials. Our fundraising will help them do that.
The Rotary Club of Manly (D9685) is enthused to apply for a Global Grant from the Rotary Foundation to replace the current "pit" toilets with an array of composting toilets, with separate facilities for boys and girls, and for handicapped children; this will be for both the junior school and senior school, 1,000 pupils in all. The Rotary Club of Brisbane Taylor Bridge is likewise preparing an application (using WASHRAG support) to provide fresh drinking water not only to the school, but also to surrounding villages |
| Long term impact: | We hope that our improvements to this school will not only impact the otherwise forgotten 560 small children of this area, but will also function as a template to provide a ripple effect out to other likewise unsupported school facilities in the Gulf Province. Lese Oalai and other villages in the Gulf Province are only a swim away from a land-link to Queensland via the Torres Strait Islands.
If we don't help them educate their children, their problems will become our problems |
| Sponsored by: | Rotary Club of Torquay, District 9780 |
| Endorsed by: | Rotary Club of Boroko, District 9620 |
| Other Partners: | Peter Nathan Loko Foundation
Rotary Club of Boroko (District 9620)
Rotary Club of Bayside Geelong (District 9780)
Papua New Guinea Gulf Association of Queensland
Rotary Club of Manly NSW (District 9685)
Rotary Club of Brisbane Taylor Bridge (District 9620) |