Approved! Thank you President Obama!

The Inclusive Education training project has been approved! This is THE accomplishment of my placement. This is an example of awareness raising leading to ownership and sustainability. The fruits of building relationships before building projects. And of reaching out to local communities to impact the lives of PNG’s most vulnerable.

First I would like to thank my President, Mr. Barack Obama. You must be thinking, what role did the Leader of the free world play in the approval of this project in Papua New Guinea? It all started under a mango tree where Mr. Ura, along with other administrators of the educational division stood chewing buai. I was introduced by a British volunteer. “This is Charlye Ramsey, from the United States of America.” Mr. Ura’s eyes immediately widened. “You’re from America? Obama?”

From that day forward, our conversations began and ended on the topic of Barack Obama.
“Will America elect a black leader?”
“Oh-ya, your country is nice ya true. If only I could go there one day.”
“I saw Obama last night on the TV. If only I could hear all his speeches.” Tiss-tiss-tiss.

Mr. Ura, like most Provincial administrators, is a busy man. A continuous line of teachers can be found waiting outside his office. So how did I manage to get through his door? With copies of Obama’s speeches. PNG culture is to give with the expectation of receiving something in return. I returned week after week, month after month. I continued to knock on his door with one hand while clutching Obama’s most recent speech in the other.

That’s how Obama helped me to build my relationship with Mr. Ura and the Provincial Division of Education. Without the support (and financing) of the Provincial Division, particularly Mr. Ura's office of teacher in-service training, this project would not be possible.

Mr. Ura and I agreed with the then president-elect when he said, “I want every child to have the same chances to learn and dream and grow and thrive...” Based on these common dreams, Mr. Ura and I built this project.

The project aims to train teachers as trainers in inclusive education within each of the 6 districts of Madang Province. These teacher trainers will learn about the types and causes of disabilities which will in turn help to dispel many myths about disability in their community. They will learn how to identify various disabilities and how to modify their teaching methods, classrooms and schools to be more inclusive.

Using existing in-service training structures, these teacher trainers will then return to their clusters of schools and train the other teachers within their district. Ultimately, every teacher will be trained within the Province and therefore every child will benefit from more inclusive schools.

Yes We Can!!!