We have been in Madang for one month. So much has happened. The events of this week alone would take pages to write everything we have seen and experienced. We will give some of the highlights.
This week was dominated by Mum’s preschool. We are working with Sister Hota, who is the director for Mum’s preschool here in Madang province, as well as the stake president’s wife. We drove out to two preschools this week. Just as a point of reference, there are over 50 preschools with about 150 teachers and over 2000 students. These are mothers teaching their children in their villages how to read and write in English along with religious education. There are many villages requesting to start their own Mum’s preschool. The expansion of more preschools is being held back due to lack of curriculum books and training. The mothers are using extra rooms in the village to start the schools and then as more children come, they expand the room on someone’s home or now they are adding another bigger building to accommodate the extra children.
We visited the Wali ward preschool. It is located 20 kilometers from Madang. We traveled 15 kilometers on paved and semi-paved roads with potholes that will swallow a smart car. Then we traveled another 5 kilometers on washed out roads in 4-wheel drive as if we were going on one of Ron’s famous deer hunting trips. We crossed 2 streams with children bathing and women washing clothes. I thought the potholes in town were big. Nope. The ditches in the side of this road would swallow our entire tire, never mind getting buried up to the axles. Travel time was about an hour.
Every preschool we attend is roughly the same. The kids are so excited to see us. They show us their routine and how they are learning. The Wali ward preschool was special this week. They had a small devotional, like opening exercises in primary. They sang “I am a Child of God.” It was loud, powerful and we will never forget the spirit that we felt as they sang.
Things are hard for them here. None of the preschools have power or water. Some of the children walk for an hour each way to attend. The mothers wait for the children and then walk them back home. We are trying to work on a plan to help the waiting mothers learn to read and write English. There is a plan percolating and we hope to fill you with details later.
We are also looking to help establish a farm in one of the villages with President Hota’s help. The plan is to raise crops that the YSA in the stake can care for and sell to raise money for missions and educational endeavors. We are zeroing in on cocoa production. We are exploring the ability to expand the crop here. It pays very well. They just need the space and some minor instruction. We will keep you informed as that works its way along.
Today we attended training with all of the Mum’s preschool teachers from the villages. They all traveled into town to learn how to use the curriculum. Mike Madsen from Highland, Utah has a foundation that distributes curriculum for kids in underprivileged countries like Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Ghana, etc. Doctrina is his foundation. Some of the teachers brought with them a government educational official. He is an inspector for the government schools in Madang province. He has seen the Mum’s preschool in his village and came to learn more about the curriculum. He spoke at the end of the training. He said he was very impressed and will report back to the officials about Mum’s preschools and the training. He is hoping to get them recognized and to get government funding. This is a very good step.
We also had our second music class today. Eleven new people showed up, and none from last week. It was raining very heavy so we will blame it on that and not my instructions. We taught the first lesson again. It could take awhile to teach them how to conduct music.
This next week is PNG’s 50th anniversary of independence. They have already started to celebrate. Next week should be celebrations all week long. We are hoping to see lots of tribal costumes, music, dancing, and parades. We will take pictures and report on it next week.
We are attaching photos. 1) A photo of a girl frying bananas in their kitchen. 2) PNG official, in yellow shirt, at Mum’s Preschool training. 3) Victorian crowned pigeon 4) Village preschool room in process of being built.
We leave you with our testimony that God lives and loves all of his children. We see his handiwork in the creations all around us. We feel his love as we serve this humble people. The gospel of Jesus Christ in the only way the world will know peace. We love you all.
Best wishes,
Elder and Sister Trogdon
Author: Sister Trogdon
Missionary