Andrew Johnston, Save the Children’s new Director of International Programmes, trekked to East Sepik province of Papua New Guinea.
Read the stories below to see just how your support is helping these remote communities after a severe drought caused by El Niño hit in early 2016.
“Papua New Guinea is an expensive place to do development because of the logistics of getting around the small remote communities throughout the islands.
By working with a partner like Oxfam, we saved money and were more efficient because we really capitalised on our organisational strengths. Oxfam would send in the initial equipment like water tanks and taps, and we followed up by providing nutritional supplements, hygiene education and training the communities in managing the project and resources themselves.
It takes a village committee
To do this we chose a group of eight men and women in each village to form a Water Management Committee to help manage the new water resources. Each member had a specific role to fulfil such as the technical officer (builder), a security manager, and a child protection officer.
Not only was each committee trained in how to maintain the new taps and tanks, but also in general project management. This was important to the sustainability of the project, as each committee will need to work together to ensure the tanks and taps are kept in good working order, and decide how to find the money to pay for repairs in the future.
Martha holds a sleepy but now-healthy Dencila in her arms. Photo credit: Andrew Johnston/Save the Children
Martha and her granddaughter Dencila were one of the many families that have benefited from your support in Papua New Guinea.
When Andrew spoke with Martha (after some translation) she shared her excitement in the difference she’s seen in Dencila’s growth after receiving nutritional food through your support.
“Before, [my granddaughter] was very thin, now after the Plumpynut treatment she has become strong again. She was yellow and now she is green.”