Map courtesy Oxford University Press
 
 

 

 

     

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 with
 
 
 
 

Buk bilong Pikinini
is a partner of

 
  
 



 
 
Buk bilong Pikinini (books for children) is an independent not-for-profit organisation based in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, which aims to establish children's libraries and foster a love of reading and learning. In PNG there are few functioning libraries outside the school system and most children do not have access to books at all.

The purpose of Buk bilong Pikinini is to focus on early childhood learning as a key to literacy. Only half of school-age children go to school and the literacy rate in PNG is well under the 50% officially claimed - in some areas as low as 5%. We aim to bring the books to the children via the creation of small Buk bilong Pikinini libraries in community based localities such as near settlements, clinics and market places. We collect books from private individuals and publishing houses and seek to obtain funding for our libraries through various fundraising efforts as well as through corporate sponsorships.

Buk bilong Pikinini was established in 2007 and has so far set up eleven children's libraries with many more to come. Buk bilong Pikinini libraries are not like normal libraries. We employ trained teacher-librarians who implement a comprehensive early childhood development programme in the mornings and a literacy and numeracy syllabus for school children in the afternoons.

You can visit all of our libraries by going to the Libraries category in the drop down menu. Please support us in our effort to make PNG children happy readers!

The Australian Governor General visits BbP library

H.E. Quentin Bryce - the Australian Governor General visited our UPNG library on Friday the 24th of April.

Children from Buk bilong Pikinini libraries across Port Moresby performed special awareness songs for the Governor General and invited guests. The children also demonstrated their excellent phonics and reading skills acquired at Buk bilong Pikinini  libraries.

Anne-Sophie was proud to announce a new Buk bilong Pikinini mobile library initiative to complement the excisting 11 libraries. This mobile library will be established in partnership with Ela Motors and with the support of the Make A Mark Australia (MAMA) Foundation – for which the Governor General is a patron. Ela motors has donated a brand new Toyota Hiace which is to be fitted out as a mobile library unit and MAMA has made a financial contribution of 10,000 Australian Dollars in support of this new programme. The mobile library will enable Buk bilong Pikinini to further work on its outreach to provide vulnerable children in Papua New Guinea with educational opportunities and high quality liteacy materials. Buk bilong Pikinini will be aiming to reach children in villages between the provincial capitals of Lae and Goroka and will enable the organisation to reach thousands of vulnerable children.

The event at the UPNG Buk bilong Pikinini library was also attended by Mrs. Linda O’Neill, wife of the PNG Prime Minister, the Australian High Commissioner H.E. Debra Stokes, donors, supporters, community members and all the parents of the children performing.

 

 

BbP featured in the prestigious Meanjin

 

Buk bilong Pikinini in very good company!

Drusilla Modjeska visited a couple of BbP libraries in 2012 and decided to support us by publishing a few articles about what BbP is trying to achieve in Papua New Guinea. In December 2012 she conducted an interview with Anne-Sophie about the creation and evolution of BbP and this conversation is now published in the Meanjin Journal. The interview stretches over 10 pages in what is named The Canberra Issue. BbP is profoundly grateful to Drusilla for choosing to write about BbP and thus helping us to widen our network in Australia.

Meanjin is an Australian literary journal, founded in 1940 and is published by the University of Melbourne.

Click here for a link to Meanjin

Literacy In Papua New Guinea

BbP opens 11th library!

BbP & BSP opened the 2nd library in Lae on Tuesday the 26th of February. Group CEO for BSP Ian Clyne and BbP Patron Bart Philomen were present to celebrate with the BbP Team and the community surrounding the Lae Unitech campus. This is the first library in a series of seven that BbP will open for the Bank of South Pacific. Buk bilong Pikinini would like to thank all our donors and sponsors for making this library possible!

Tim Costello makes a visit

 

Tim Costello, CEO of World Vision Australia, visited two of the Port Moresby Community Children's Education project sites on Saturday the 13th of April. The POMCCE project, managed by Luke Ebbs and Jules Taria of Buk bilong Pikinini, aims to establish four Buk bilong Pikinini libraires inside settlement communities across Port Moresby. Mr Costello, who has seen hundreds of similar projects across the world, said that "this project was particularly inspiring because of the high-level of community ownership over the management of the project."

Founders

Buk bilong Pikinini was founded in March 2007 by Anne-Sophie Hermann (right) and Anna Mukerjee (left). Anne-Sophie Hermann is now based in Canberra and manages the Buk bilong Pikinini Canberra Office. The Papua New Guinea High Commission has generously provided her with an office - see Contact us for details. 

 

 

 
More Articles...

Link1 | Link2 | Link3

Copyright © 2011. All Rights Reserved.