2011 Annual Report

Buk bilong Pikinini Annual Report for 2011 Contents Contacts…………………………………………………………………………………………………………… Page 2 The Buk Bilong Pikinini Story………………………………………………………………………….... Page 3 Statement from the Founder……………………………………………………………………………. Page 5 Our Development Strategy………………………………………………………………………………. Page 8 Our Logic Framework………………………………………………………………………………………. Page 14 Operational Structure………………………………………………………………………………………. Page 15 Map of BbP’s work…………………………………………………………………………………………… Page 16 The Libraries……………………………………………………………………………………………………. Page 17 Port Moresby General Hospital……………………………………………………………… Page 18 Hohola………………………………………………………………………………………………….. Page 20 Lawes Road…………………………………………………………………………………………… Page 22 Lae………………………………………………………………………………………………………… Page 25 6 Mile……………………………………………………………………………………………………. Page 27 Goroka……………………………………………………………………………………………….… Page 29 Koki……………………………………………………………………………………………………… Page 31 University of PNG………………………………………………………………………………… Page 34 Our 5-year strategic plan………………………………………………………………………………… Page 36 Thank you to all our donors, staff and volunteers…………………………………………… Page 37 1 Contacts Buk bilong Pikinini Founder Executive Director Mrs Anne Sophie Hermann Mrs Ali Nott C/- PNG High Commission PO BOX 5791 39 – 41 Forster Crescent Boroko Yarralumla ACT 2600 Port Moresby Australia Papua New Guinea Phone: +61 2 6273 3322 Phone: +675 340 8827 Fax: +61 2 6273 3732 Fax: +675 325 5503 Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] PNG Office Manager Early Childhood Development Co-ordinator Mrs Francesca Kupe Mrs Elizabeth Omeri PO BOX 5791 PO BOX 5791 Boroko Boroko Port Moresby Port Moresby Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea Phone: +675 340 8827 Phone: +675 340 8827 Fax: +675 325 5503 Fax: +675 325 5503 Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] 2 The Buk bilong Pikinini Story Buk bilong Pikinini, meaning “Children’s books” in Papua New Guinean Pidgin, is a Non- Governmental Organisation based in PNG that aims to promote literacy and foster a love for reading among vulnerable children. The idea behind Buk bilong Pikinini grew out of a strong sense of frustration and injustice shared by two expatriate women living in PNG. After arriving in Port Moresby in January 2007, our founder Anne-Sophie Hermann was stunned by the lack of access PNG children had to books. There are very few functioning libraries throughout PNG and – with the exception of Buk bilong Pikinini – even fewer that focus specifically on children’s literacy. This lack of access to books in a country where almost half the population are illiterate was something that Anne-Sophie found entirely unacceptable. So, in 2007, she started working with BbP’s co-founder Anna Mukerjee to achieve one goal: to get books into the hands of children as a first step towards literacy. From the very beginning, Buk bilong Pikinini has focussed on getting books into the hands of children who need them the most. This is why, in April 2008, our two founders established the first Buk bilong Pikinini library at the Children’s TB, HIV and Malnutrition Ward at Port Moresby General Hospital. Few children in PNG are more in need of books than those living on this ward. Most of them are suffering from serious diseases which, among many other things, deny the children access to proper education and schooling. With the opening of our first library in the ward, these children have been given the opportunity to learn how to read and write, as well as a chance to escape their suffering through the joy and relief provided by books. Today, over 20 children a day continue to attend the library where they read, write, sing, play, paint and take part in activities that are vital to a child’s educational development. In line with our philosophy to get books into the hands of the neediest children, we opened our second library only five months later at the Red Cross Special Resource Centre in Hohola, Port Moresby. Recognising the significant lack of support systems in PNG for people living with disabilities, Buk bilong Pikinini chose to focus on promoting literacy among children with hearing and learning disabilities. Today, we have two full-time librarians delivering a specially-designed syllabus in sign language to get children with hearing and learning disabilities reading and enjoying books. Our third library, established at Lawes Road, Port Moresby, in May 2009, marked the beginning of a new and exciting time for Buk bilong Pikinini. The Lawes Road library was the first to be constructed outside an already established institution. Using the Ezy-House structure, Lawes road was our first self-contained, fully-independent library. It was also the first of our libraries to be constructed next to a settlement community. 3 Immediately after opening Lawes Road, we realised that Buk bilong Pikinini was moving in the right direction. Our library became instantly popular among children and parents in the community. Over a hundred children were visiting the library daily; most of them highly disadvantaged children from the nearby settlement who had no other access to early childhood education. Following the success of Lawes road, we designed and implemented a structured literacy and numeracy syllabus to get our children reading and writing books. In a matter of months, we were seeing positive results from the children, some of whom were learning to read and write at an even higher level than those attending formal primary school. Motivated by the success of our first three libraries, Buk bilong Pikinini established five more – all self-contained, independent libraries, staffed by full-time librarians delivering a structured syllabus in basic literacy and numeracy. All of these libraries are located near settlements, so that the thousands of children coming through our libraries every month are children who otherwise would have no access to books and learning materials. Neither Anne-Sophie nor Anna could have dreamt that their desire to get books into the hands of children would have given rise to an organisation that is now a household name across Papua New Guinea’s major urban centres. On average, over 7000 children are learning how to read and write in our libraries every month – a feat we have achieved in the space of a few short years. With continued support and loyalty from our sponsors, we aim to get books into the hands of tens of thousands of deprived children within the next five to ten years. 4 Statement from our Founder No skill is more crucial to the future of a child than literacy! It is with great pleasure that I can announce - at the end of this turbulent year in the political arena - that Buk bilong Pikinini has spent another year striving to bring inspirational libraries to the children of Papua New Guinea. We have made significant progress during the year to establish more libraries and substantially expand our support base, both in Australia and in Papua New Guinea. We have been able to train our staff to continue to carry out our ever-improving Literacy Based Learning and Awareness Programmes, which have been a great success with the children. We have developed a large number of documents guiding and supporting our organisation and have received great advice from members of our Board of Directors on financial statements. We have entered into important partnerships with World Vision and the Kokoda Track Foundation, and we are also looking forward to be working with AusAID from 2012. Buk bilong Pikinini has also been working to improve our marketing documents and we have had an excellent year with many stories in the PNG and Australian media. Buk bilong Pikinini this year signed a contract with Nawae Constructions for a library in Alotau; it will open in Milne Bay Province in early 2012. We have signed a partnership agreement with World Vision to establish four libraries inside POM settlements. We are currently working on establishing libraries at 9 mile POM, Madang and Western Province in the not too distant future. This year also saw the relocation of our book storage facility from the Airways compound to our new and larger capacity at Hastings Deering. Buk bilong Pikinini committee members have done a tremendous job this year to establish a book sorting and classification system. This will be necessary for the years to come, as large volumes of quality books are continually donated to the organisation and shipped in from Australia. Another relocation took place in Lae, with the Buk bilong Pikinini library moving to a new, more central location. In October, we opened a library at the University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG) campus, sponsored by Hastings Deering and Oxford University Press, on land provided by UPNG. At the opening, Vice Chancellor Ross Hynes announced that Buk bilong Pikinini would be welcome to establish libraries on UPNG land across the country. The Hon. Richard Marles, Australian Minister for Pacific Island Affairs, also paid a visit to the UPNG library and was most impressed by what he saw. 5 This year, we have produced a large number of documents to guide the organisation and others interested in our work. These include a Project Information Document, a Strategic Plan, a Financial Plan and three-year budget, a Disclaimer and Code of Conduct posted in all libraries, a Sponsorship Package (as well as this Annual Report). A new website is under construction, with a YouTube Channel, a Facebook page, a Twitter account and Paypal payment option available. This new and more informative website will

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