Papua New Guinean education and community development specialists and WLI alumni Marlene Delis and Rebecca Krai are collaborating with a local elementary school community in East Sepik Province to improve teaching and learning facilities and skills – for students and teachers.
Marlene and Rebecca identified a lack of essential resources, including books, a library space, and access to clean drinking water, holding Kinbangwa Elementary School students back from reaching their academic potential and transitioning to junior high school.
To remove this barrier to education, Marlene and Rebecca collaborated with Maprik District community members to create a library-classroom, fill it with new books, and install a 5,000L “tuffa tank” to establish clean water access at the school through the WLI Leadership Fund.
Marlene and Rebecca say that working alongside the community to improve the quality of elementary education in their village has not only benefited the 50 students and their teachers, but also empowered local leaders to formally address education challenges through the Department of Education.
Hailing from East Sepik Province herself, Marlene (who is also a member of WLI's Steering Committee) has witnessed first-hand the additional barriers to education faced by schools in very remote or “geographically challenged settings”, where access to resources is even more limited.
To confirm the best approach to creating the much-needed library-classroom and water tank at Kinbangwa Elementary and ensure project sustainability, Marlene and Rebecca collaborated with the local community.
With an existing cement floor already having been laid at the school site, unfinished, the village decided the best way forward would see the school maximise the use of existing materials and erect a mini-classroom that could house the library and learning space.
Due to the high cost of materials and freight disruptions delaying development of the library space and water tank, Marlene and Rebecca enlisted the support of community members to donate resources they had on hand.
Marlene and Rebecca explained that this approach “increased a sense of community ownership, with leaders pledging their support to take care of the books and the mini-library they created”.
It also meant Marlene and Rebecca could erect the library space, plumbed-in water tank, and hand-washing station with more community assistance than they had originally planned to receive.
To bolster resources for teachers and boost students’ reading and learning capabilities, Marlene and Rebecca dedicated almost half of their Leadership Fund project budget to the procurement and delivery of library books and learning resources.
Among these, the duo sourced a library establishment elementary kit, literacy and numeracy kits, and various “reader” book sets designed specifically to build foundational reading and psychomotor skills.
But getting the books to the school was one of the initiative’s major challenges, due to a “fuel crisis” impacting freighting companies in Papua New Guinea. This would ultimately add six months of delay to the project timeline.
During this period, the team reinforced the importance of staying adaptive to challenges and keeping in constant communication with school leaders to share progress and plans to seek an alternative delivery method.
“We adapted to the situation and provided funds for two teachers to travel to the warehouse in Wewak, which is about four to six hours’ travel by road, and bring the books back to the school by bus,” they explained.
Upon receiving the books and learning resources, the school’s Coordinator Norman Kundama expressed his joy for both students and teachers who will benefit from using them.
He explained, “I am so happy that students now have real books to read, and I know students will have fun using the number blocks. I feel this is very important for our children to develop their psychomotor skills early.”
Teacher Casey Gilikambe added, “The Teacher’s Guide within the library establishment kit is something we have always needed but have not had money to purchase. We are so happy and feeling more confident to teach our children.”
According to Marlene and Rebecca, “This project also boosted the teachers’, students’, and Kinbangwa village community members’ confidence to address elementary school issues through an official process, as improving learning facilities will enable the school to apply for a ‘school code’ under the Provincial Education Division."
During a ceremony to handover the resources to Kinbangwa Elementary School, Chairman Albert Wama reflected on the pride he felt seeing Marlene, who grew up in East Sepik, return to the school to share her expertise, knowledge, and resources with the community alongside Rebecca.
“I am standing here so proud, having our own daughter return to the village to support the school, which is something we have never experienced, even though we have had a lot of our own educated professional,” he said.
With plans to continue positively developing communities by removing barriers to education, Marlene and Rebecca reflected on the need to approach positive change sustainably and collaboratively.
“We loved working on this project with the community, as it helped us identify potential that exists within communities and utilise this potential to navigate new ways to overcome existing challenges,” the duo said.
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Participants and alumni of the Women's Developmental Leadership Program like Marlene and Rebecca are eligible to apply for funding to develop and implement real-world leadership projects through the WLI Leadership Fund.
