Australian donors visit

BbP received a visit from high level Australia based donors at our library next to Evadahana Primary School on the 27th of August. Our guests enjoyed meeting our Teacher-librarians and watching the children in their morning literacy session.

Our guests included Harold Mitchell and Stephanie Copus-Campbell from the Harold Mitchell Foundation, Chairman of Oil Search Rick Lee and his wife Judy, also from Oil Seach Tim Siegenbeek van Heukelom, Annabel Dulhunty and Angus White from Mundango Abroad and Mel Keys from the Aspen Medical Foundation. First Lady and our Ambssador Lynda Babao-O'Neill was also there to meet our guests. Everyone received a great welcome from the children and the community.

Buk bilong Pikinini is grateful for all the support we receive from our donors in both PNG and Australia to help improve literacy rates and forster a love of reading and learning in Papua New Guinea.


Thank you so much to Vanessa Kerton-Smythe, MadNESS Photography for the amazing photos - see album: https://www.facebook.com/BukbilongPikinini

Hearing Awareness Week

A great thank you to KramerAusenco and the Ausenco Foundation.

Buk Bilong Pikinini held an event at our library for the hearing impaired at the Red Cross Special Education Resource Center to celebrate Hearing Awareness Week to raise awareness about the difficulty living with hearing loss and deafness. This is to help eliminate the stigma, isolation, lack of educational opportunities, and the associated health issues to improve the overall quality of life for people with deafness or hearing impairment.

Buk bilong Pikinini has had a library at the RCSERC since 2008. The library was started with a grant from Sir Theo Constantinou and is today a wonderful resource centre thanks to the sponsorship of the Ausenco Foundation and Kramer Ausenco which has provided funding for the library, special needs teaching materials, DVD players, iPads and this year also the assistance of an international volunteer - Rowan Southwell from VSO.

The students gave a demonstration of their extensive sign-language vocabulary and great confidence in reading and signing. The children were also each presented with a bag containing books, literacy materials and small posters to promote signing between the children and their parents.

The Ausenco Foundation’s ongoing funding will enable the children and teachers to continue their learning and the development of a broader disability awareness program across BbP libraries.

A great thank you to all our guests for coming; our wonderful Ambassador Lynda Babao-O'Neill, representatives for the Ausenco Foundation and KramerAusenco CEO Bruce Nicholson and William Natera, Government/Public Relations. We are also grateful for the attendance of Anna K Solomon, Secretary for the Department of Community Development, Jodie McAllister from the Australian High Commission, Michael Lulu from Callan services.

Thank you Vanessa Kerton-Smythe, MadNESS Photography for the beautiful photos.

For more information on the Ausenco Foundation, please visit http://www.ausenco.com/ausenco-foundation

Buk bilong Pikinini's new Executive Officer

We are very proud to introduce Lucinda Gulluman-Kisip as our new Executive Officer. Lucinda has had an extremely busy start to the job with celebrations such as International Environment Day in the libraries, a visit to our Lae libraries and an official visit from the Ambassador of Sweden, H.E. Par Alhberger, to our Koki library.

Lucinda comes with a great background in the development sector and is no stranger to all things Buk bilong Pikinini. Lucinda is looking forward to meeting all the great people who are supporting BbP to maintain and establish libraries across Papua New Guinea.

This is what she said: "I gave up a career in the Science/Mining industry in 2001 to work in the development sector, because I wanted to be able to help PNG people and communities improve services in their communities by taking ownership of development.

My 15 years of working in the Development sector has also ignited an interest in organisational development for NGOs in PNG and particularly in looking at how indigenous NGOs can grow and thrive in PNG.

Working as the Key Partnerships Coordinator under the Australian Government funded Strongim Pipol Strongim Nesen, I was part of a team that worked with BbP to develop it's organisational systems and strategic plans,etc...

Watching BbP grow from strength to strength has provided me with great job satisfaction. Hence, when the opportunity to join BbP presented itself, I jumped at it.

My personal love of reading and promoting reading with my children and other family members, also made this job all the more alluring. Growing up in PNG in the late nineties, I had the opportunity of borrowing books from the Public Library. I'm saddened that this service no longer exists for many Papua New Guinean children today.

I believe that no matter what your background or experience has been, reading or providing books to children is building is a great foundation for the future."

Welcome to Buk bilong Pikinini Lucinda!

Buk bilong Pikinini will produce a reader in partnership with the Department of the Environment

Having produced two great readers about life in traditional villages of PNG, Buk bilong Koki Markets and Our Village: Tatana Island, Buk bilong Pikinini is now planning to produce a number of culturally appropriate books and readers.

The aim of the BbP PNG Reader Program is to raise funds for the organisation while at the same time ensuring that the children are able to find books they can relate to on our library shelves. 

The Minister for Environment and Conservation and Climate Change, Hon. John Pundari, MP, (pictured above left) - made the announcement on Environment Day that BbP will be producing a reader in partnership with his department.

The Minister said: "When you look after the environment, you look after yourself. The results of mankind's actions is now affecting our environment. We must learn to conserve and protect our environment by doing the right thing. Buk bilong Pikinini will be writing books on protecting the environment and the books will be for 4-7 year olds."

We are looking forward to producing books and readers in partnership with our donors which can be used in our libraries but also be used in school classrooms across Papua New Guinea. More on this coming soon ...