Timely Start to a New School Year: Welcome Back Dear Students
The beginning of the new year 2024 also marked a successful start into the new school semester after the Christmas holidays. It is a great acknowledgment for us that all student once again found their place behind the school desks on time and motivated to continue their education at Child Aid Papua. For those familiar with the family conventions and the geographical layout in Raja Ampat, with some very remote home villages on distant islands, they know that the punctual start of school is by no means for granted. Education still holds a low priority for many families and villages. This is hardly reprehensible, as many know the school lessons and teachers as unreliable, irregular, and of questionable quality, and many islanders had no access to education at all. It's no wonder that acceptance and discipline towards school education are a lengthy process. However, our students and their parents have understood that we are dedicated to our promise reliably and in return demand the same commitment. We are very pleased with the respect and recognition we have earned over the years. The punctual attendance of all students is a beautiful testament to this. We are ready to tackle the new semester.
New Team Member for our Teachers: Welcome Yenny!
Additionally, at the beginning of the new semester, we were also able to welcome a new teacher, Yenny, to our team. She is originally from Sumatra but has just completed her scholarship-sponsored Master's degree in "English Education" in Australia. With this, the 25-year-old is perfectly equipped to complement our local teaching team. Having completed her previous Bachelor's degree in Physics and Biology, these - along with English - are the subjects she teaches in our school. With her support, we now have a very solid and diverse team. We wish Yenny much joy and success in her new role at Child Aid Papua and thank her in advance for her valuable contribution.
You Always Meet Twice, and Hopefully Many More Times: Welcome back Simon!
It is almost one year ago that we had the honor of welcoming a high-profile visitor. Simon Lister honoured us with his presence and traveled to the remote Raja Ampat. We had reported about how he gathered the videos and photographs for his film project, in which Child Aid Papua is supposed to play a central role... For those whose memory fails them here, we are happy to remind: Simon is a Unicef representative, photographer, author, producer (he participated in the 3rd season of the Netflix documentary success "Tales by Light") and has in the meantime become a good friend of Maya, Jonas, and our environmental school. And it hit him no differently as many others who set foot on the islands of Raja Ampat for the first time: the indescribably beautiful nature and the warmth of the people captivated him immediately.... Despite the harsh weather conditions during his first visit. So we were not surprised but all the more delighted to hear that he visited us again in March for the second time to collect even more material for his documentary project. The weather gods were on his side this time, so he could complement and expand the material he had collected last year. We highly recommend a visit to his Instagram account (@scilista).
Shortly after his visit to Sawinggrai, Simon traveled to the officials of the United Nations Foundation (UN) to present his project, especially the chapter on Child Aid Papua. We are excited to see how things progress and will, of course, keep you updated.
Welcome to new Partnerships and Update on the Ocean Blue Project
Lastly, we are very pleased to inform you that the donation barometer for our new school project/building "Ocean Blue" is climbing higher, and we are coming very close to our funding goal. In the past months and weeks, we have received further extremely generous private donations and have intensified or formed new valuable partnerships with other foundations. These bring us a significant step closer to our future projects and at the same time contribute to a strengthened foundation for the operational maintenance of the school in 2024. We thank all donors from the bottom of our hearts and look forward to further cooperation with the Alexander Foundation, Blue Germany Foundation, Journey Man International, McPike Zima Foundation, Rotary Club, and now also with Green Leaves Education Foundation. We are convinced that we will also achieve the final milestone for the Ocean Blue Project and will soon be able to start building the new school facility.