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No looking back In December 2002, Benny Kene graduated from a World Vision-run adult literacy course. Little did he know that he was going to be a teacher by the middle of the following year.
After he quit school, Benny left his village in the Eastern Highlands and went to Port Moresby to look for work. However, instead of a finding job he discovered drugs and alcohol. He got married and had a daughter, but his wife and child left him and went back to their village because he was not able to support them. Fed-up with the way his life was heading, Benny enrolled in a literacy course organised by the Vadavada Community Development Programme. “Because of my enthusiasm in working with World Vision and the community after my literacy training, I developed a good reputation in the community,“ says Benny. So much so that, even though he didn’t have any previous teacher training, local church elders paid for him to undergo a six-week elementary teachers’ training course and then recruited him to teach at a church pre-school. Unfortunately his teaching sessions were interrupted when there was an ethnic clash and the children fled with their parents and did not turn up at school for many days. Benny, 31, is now teaching in a public school and hopes to continue his training, with a view to graduating with a diploma in 2005. After that, Benny says he could be admitted to any teachers’ college in the country, to get a full qualification in either teaching or education. However, Benny’s life is advancing on more than just a professional level. He has been selected as secretary of the Community Development Committee representing Kipo, the community where he lives. He is also the secretary of a newly formed youth group. The group has more than 60 members, including small children, and meets twice a week. Members participate in anti-drug campaigns and help local families with gardening and other household chores. “I thought I had missed out already [in life],” says Benny, who hopes to save enough to buy air tickets so his wife and daughter can share in this new life with him. |
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VADAVADA STORY ARCHIVE 2005 Snippets 2004 Diploma for Dennis Village court Snippets Showing his mettle No looking back Project extends 2003 Young man of vision Snippets Perseverance pays off Illiterate dad goes to school Families grow better life Former drifter builds business AIDS risk
Port Moresby: Snippets
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