Peopleconnexion and Buk bilong Pikinini join forces again in 2021
In October last year, Peopleconnexion set a goal to collect 1000 donated books by Christmas to send to Buk bilong Pikinini. In an amazing turn of events, over three months (up until December 2020), we have collected 5000 books (!), and sent them to PNG. Those books will make a huge difference in the lives of children living in PNG.
Who is Buk bilong Pikinini?
Buk bilong Pikinini, meaning ?books for children?, is an independent not-for-profit organisation based in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. They support communities and schools across Papua New Guinea to improve literacy rates and foster a love of reading and learning. Established in 2007, BbP has been in operation for more than 10 years and has opened 18 library sites in that time. They also employ trained teacher-librarians who implement a comprehensive Early Childhood Development and Literacy Programme as well as an Awareness Programme targeting important health and societal issues. Funding is sourced from donors, and no fees are charged to parents to participate in the programs.
For the most vulnerable children in PNG, right now there is little chance of accessing high-quality early childhood before school. In PNG there are few functioning libraries outside the school system and most children do not have access to books at all. This means Papua New Guinea has some of the lowest literacy rates in the Pacific with an over-representation of illiteracy in disadvantaged households. The 2015 census found 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%. That’s where Buk bilong Pikinini (BbP), comes in, as they focus on early childhood learning as a key to literacy.
Peopleconnexion x Buk bilong Pikinini Partnership
We think the work BbP does is so important, because literacy has the power to transform lives. At Peopleconnexion we are really passionate about the importance of education and recognise how significant literacy is to a child’s life, so we wanted to give back to the next generation of Papua New Guineans by organising a book drive. Peopleconnexion pledges to donate another 5000 books to Buk bilong Pikini to support their mission to provide Papua New Guinean children with access to high quality books and literacy programs.
How can you help?
We are welcoming donations for gently used books from people in Brisbane, or if you would like to find out more about how you can help BbP check out their website.
BbP are seeking the following good quality books:
- Baby board books
- Picture books
- Early Readers
- Children’s dictionaries & Atlas
- Junior novels
- Junior reference books
- Resource & Activity books
- Primary and High School English, Science, Maths, Geography, etc
- General reference books for students and teachers
- Dictionaries, Thesaurus & Encylopaedia (small)
- Readers & novels
- Recent general reference and resource books
- Fiction
- Non-Fiction (new)
- Coffee table books
- Gardening, Cooking & – General Life skills
Please let us know via email if you have books to contribute to the BbP book drive.
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