03 September 2019

To kick start Buk bilong Pikinini’s (BbP) Literacy Week celebrations, a major new partnership announcement will be made with Steamships Chief Operating Officer Rupert Bray and Hon. Dadi Toka, Chairman of the Motu Koita Assembly/ Deputy Governor of the NCDC at an event on Monday the 2nd of September.
A brighter future it will be - this time for the children of Motu Koitabu villages in Port Moresby. Steamships has been operating in PNG for more than 100 years and has a real heart for the nations’ children. The large conglomerate is one of BbP’s foundation corporate donors and has now decided to make a new major investment in the children of Motu Koitabu villages to support them with their education, as part of their K2 million investment in Buk bilong Pikinini over the next five years.
The villages are in great need of educational programs to prepare young children for school and literacy materials for school children of all ages.
A BbP Library Learning Centre, housing more than 3000 books and educational materials, will be built at six Moto Koitabu schools – being at Pari Elemenraty School, Hagara Elementary School, Sevese Morea Elementary School, Baruni Elementary School, St Michaels Elementary School and at the Kirakira Community Hall.
Steamships will be sponsoring the operations, which includes delivery of BbPs highly efficient Early Childhood Literacy and Development program, highly trained Teacher-Librarians, books and educational materials.
The Library Learning Centres will be built over the next three years through a partnership with the NCDC, which will sponsor the construction of the centres through the support from Hon. Dadi Toka and the Motu Koita Assembly. Steamships has been supporting Buk bilong Pikinini with Library Learning Centres in Port Moresby, Lae and Goroka since 2009.
Thanks to this vital support, thousands of children have graduated from BbP’s programs and have started school as confident readers and learners and continue to make their parents proud through successful academic achievements.
BbP’s Early Childhood Literacy Development programs provide 5 year-old children with solid foundations in phonics, reading, writing, numeracy and general awareness. In addition to the daily program, the children are also encouraged to borrow books from the library and discover the world through pictures and stories.
Children who are learning to read at BbP’s LLC at Hagara Primary, sponsored by Steamships – will be demonstrating their reading skills to fellow Motu Koita children at Pari – to inspire them to enroll in the program and get a great start to their educational journey.
Rupert Bray, Chief Operating Officer for Steamships Trading Company Ltd. said: “Our relationship with the Motu Koita people is as old as the company itself. To have the chance to provide the youngest people in the MKA community the best possible start on their education journey is a privilege. We’re very proud of our status as a foundation partner of BbP and excited at this very worthwhile contribution to nation building”.
Hon. Dadi Toka, Chairman of the Motu Koita Assembly/Deputy Governor of the NCDC said: Education is a priority area for the Motu Koita Assembly.
In order to have a successful education pathway for the children of the Motu Koitabu villages - we need to start by getting the foundations right. The right foundation is a partnership with Buk bilong Pikinini.
Anne-Sophie Hermann, BbP Founder and Chair said: “It is thanks to long-term foundation donors such as Steamships, that Buk bilong Pikinini has been able to establish its popular Library Learning Centres and reach so many children across the country with our programs and services.
We will continue to advocate for the importance of investment in human development as a tool for nation building and believe that this cannot be done without libraries – be they Public libraries, District libraries or School libraries. We have entered into a partnership with the National Library and Archives of PNG to support this vision and will seek to leverage support from our generous corporate and government partners in both PNG and Australia to make it happen. Through the establishment of vibrant community libraries, we can support PNG authors and illustrators to get their stories told, inspire children to get a better future for themselves through education and we can also introduce more modern ways of learning through digital platforms. I thank Steamships, the NCDC and the Motu Koita Assembly for their vision to extend their generosity to parts of this city, which are in desperate need of support.
Together we can create a brighter future for the children of PNG.”

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