Vadavada, Papua New Guinea

Poor hygiene puts children at risk of skin infections.

Health

• Held an educational workshop on family spacing, attended by approximately 30 mothers from the community. The medical team from HOPE, another non-government organisation in PNG, ran a follow-up programme using videos.
• Supplied 36 drums to help build drains in the community.
• Helped the community dig rubbish pits for waste disposal.
• Educated 20 families on the importance of personal hygiene, and supplied them with towels and cartons of medicated soap. These families were selected because their children had skin infections, which have since cleared up.
• Supplied 20 insecticide-treated mosquito nets to families who could not afford them.

Education & life skills development

• Organised training for six literacy tutors. Five of the tutors set up classes, teaching reading and writing skills to about 100 adults and teenagers from approximately 45 homes.
• Held a workshop for parents to reinforce the important role parents play in their children’s education and to discuss changes in the Government’s direction for education reforms. Sixty children attended half-day pre-school classes last year.
• Trained families who have accessed revolving loans from World Vision in bookkeeping skills.
• Held a four-day workshop in improved fishing methods for 18 people. Eight of the participants were women involved in cleaning, storing and selling fish at Port Moresby’s markets. The CDP plans to follow-up the workshop in the future, in the hope that a fish stall can be set up in the community where people can come to purchase fresh or frozen fish. The CDP intends to help one group of fishermen establish the operation by supplying fishing nets, diving torches and fish coolers as a loan. The group will be required to open a bank account to pay for future expenses.
• Trained Community Development Committee members, youth leaders and women’s group leaders in leadership skills. The CDP organised exposure trips for the leaders to different parts of the city to see how leaders in other organisations operated. Examples of places visited include charitable groups, voluntary services and government offices. One visit to the City Mission, which is involved in life skills training for teenage boys, gave community leaders an idea of activities they could introduce in their community.
• Supplied rolls of cloth, sewing thread and elastic to a group of women and girls making clothes and bags for sale.

Public education

• Used video shows and arranged for local artists and performers to create dramas, songs and other activities to teach the community about certain social issues. As there are not many forms of entertainment in the area, such shows are an effective teaching tool.
• Encouraged ethnic groups to perform cultural items. The performances reinforce the importance and uniqueness of indigenous culture and help address the incorrect perception among many that ‘development’ means adopting a Western life-style.
• Arranged production of a handbook and training manual on gender related issues and held training in these issues for 35 men and women. Twenty-four adults had follow-up training. The CDP plans to produce posters relating to gender roles and responsibilities to create further community discussion on the topic.