Re-introducing the Tembari Children

By ALFREDO P HERNANDEZ

A Friend of Tembari

WHEN I met the Tembari kids for the first time in December of 2009, there were only 78 of them.

To date, Tembari’s beneficiary children number 175. It used to be about 200 towards late last year, but for one reason or the other, part of the 25 absentee kids have not been coming for TCC services regularly while others completely dropped out.

The present 175 Tembari kids are receiving services such as preschool education, elementary and primary education alongside the daily feeding that takes place from Monday to Saturday. What’s more, they are getting a place they can call their home away from home.

We provide them meals every day – an early dinner – from Monday to Saturday, thanks to our generous donors.

Our beneficiary children are orphans, abandoned and neglected who live with their “bubu” relatives and guardians around the village.

Of the 175 beneficiary children, 28 are preschoolers, 95 are schoolchildren (43 elementary and 52 primary) enrolled at Wardstrip Elementary School (Gordons), 6-Mile Holy Rosary Elementary School, St Peter (Erima) Elementary School, Wildlife (Motokea) Elementary School, Philip Alaope and Ted Diro Primary (Murray Barracks), and the rest (52) comprise the following: Thirty-five (35) kids below 6 years; and 17 over-age kids (14 years old and below) but not in school.

At present, TCC’s Preschool Program covers 70 kids. Of these, 28 are TCC beneficiaries while the other 42 others are children from the community who are living with a complete set of parents – mother and father who are financially able to support them.

The outsider-kids are using our preschool facilities since we are the only preschool center at the village (ATS Oro Settlement); we have to take them in as part of our functions as a Community-based Organization (CBO). It is also a deal we signed with Digicel Foundation when they provided us with two fitted containers that now serve as classroom and office.

We receive foodstuff donations such as rice, tinned fish and milk from individual and corporate donors.

To provide services to such a big number of beneficiaries, TCC requires help from cooks, preschool teachers and others.

During my first year with Tembari (2010) as volunteer fund/foodstuff chaser, all help was provided by volunteers. But as I managed to get funding from donors and supporters, the volunteers demanded that they also be paid for their services just like the pre-school teachers.

There was a time when we were unable to pay the preschool teachers as funds ran short and the teachers walked out for several days, living the preschoolers with nothing to do at the center.

So, when I found new money, we hired a paid staff to do the daily dirty jobs. These hired staff comprise of three (3) cooks, one (1) center administrator; and a cleaner (janitor) who would keep the premises in order. This is alongside the paid preschool teachers.

We have to maintain a paid staff because this is the only way to keep them working for us and sustain our services to the children.

I am also thinking of hiring a night security guard to protect our property from drunkards, raskols and trouble makers in the village, at a rate of K100 a fortnight. 

The whole village is aware that we are storing substantial foodstuff in one of our containers, which is a potential magnet for thievery.

The Head Teacher that we hired is a Certified Teacher who was retrenched sometime ago. She used to work as Head Teacher at her former school. At Tembari, she is responsible for designing and evaluating the effectiveness of the curriculum for our Preschool Program, running in-service training for the two support teachers, supervising the daily classroom activities, maintaining school records of individual preschoolers and other pertinent data and coordinating with the School Principal at Wardstrip on behalf of our elementary schoolchildren. She also handles a daily class. She lives in the community and was idle for some time. We realized that she got the experience that would help improve our early-age education program.

The Administrative Officer takes care of documenting donations that came in, monitor the daily withdrawal of foodstuff that would be cooked for the day’s meal; monitor and record the number of cordial bottles and milk packs used for the daily feeding; monitor the daily attendance of staff and beneficiary children during feeding that takes place in the afternoon (early dinner), taking stock of Tembari properties, liaise with Wardstrip Elementary School and donors. He also doubles as secretary and do official errands for Tembari.

Most important, he records spending related to the daily feeding program – cooking ingredients – checking if they are properly supported with receipts and related documents. And PMV fares.

The volunteer auditor from Deloitte has required us that such records of spending be properly supported with receipts otherwise, money spent without backup docs would be considered as unaccounted for. This is very difficult for our cooks, especially when they buy foodstuff (veggies and others) at the Gordon’s market where receipts are unheard of.

But I am trying to come up with the necessary forms – vouchers, petty cash vouchers, receipts, ledgers and others – to meet the requirements for transparency.

We are doing our best of institute changes in our financial operations because this is the only way to attract funding donors and assure them of transparency in the use of the money they donated.

For instance, I have done away with cheque signatories who are related – husband and wife. This is the case of Penny Sage-embo and Hayward Sagembo who are both officers of TCC. Penny is the founder-program coordinator while Hayward is the president.

Familiar with the complications resulting from having husband-and-wife cheque signatories, the volunteer auditor from a prestigious accounting-auditing in POM firm has demanded that one of them resign his/her signing authority.

I took over to become the second signatory, while a British expatriate, who actively supports our pre-school classroom building project, became the third signatory. So, this time, only Hayward Sagembo, the TCC president, the British expat-volunteer and I have the signing authority.

But before I sign any cheque, I see to it that I know the items the money would cover. And as soon as the items have been bought, I demand that the receipts be given to me for a tally-up with the drawn cheque.

This job is quite awkward because I don’t actually see the items that are bought - ingredients that go into the cooking of the daily meals and many other stuffs; I only see the receipts, if they are available.

I hope to appropriately handle our cash flows, and keep it going till the next funding from our generous donors come again - that is after a year.

We are maintaining two accounts: one at BSP and the other at Westpac.

If you think you can support us in our goal of improving the lives of the Tembari children so that they would have a normal life -- happy and with peace of mind, educated, well-nourished and healthy -- just like the rest of their more-fortunate peers in the community, please let me know.

For feedback, email the writer: ahernandez@thenational.com.pg and alfredophernandez@y7mail.com

Tinned fish and all … an update

The bunch of firewood donation that was delivered on Friday to Tembari center, courtesy of a timber dealer based in Port Moresby.

By ALFREDO P HERNANDEZ

A Friend of Tembari Children

Firewood donation … The Tembari daily feeding program has received a big boost in the form of firewood donated by a timber dealer in Port Moresby. At least, the bunch of scrap timber and off-cuts which was delivered on Friday afternoon could last for a month’s cooking, according to one the mothers involved in preparing the kids’ daily meals. Until the firewood delivery, Tembari had being buying everyday a bundle at a cost of K10 – or K60 for a six-day feeding session. About 130 to 150 children are served early dinner every day. The firewood has been safely stored to prevent village thieves from being stealing it.

Electrical fire hits center … A few days ago, the Tembari office was hit by an electrical fire, caused by a faulty wiring. A small fire charred the entire installation at the center’s office, which is housed in a modified container. An inspector from PNG Power who came later said the wiring system starting from the switch box must be replaced. A hardware outlet – the Paradise Hardware – has provided the replacement materials, which would be installed soon as the center needs electricity for its various electrical appliances such as a freezer, fridge and premises lighting.

Cooking mothers prepare the day's meal...

Noodle consumption … Instant noodles have become an important part of the Tembari children’s daily meal. It is being cooked together with greens and sausages or chicken meat, if available, and served along with a bowl of rice. The soup of the noodle dish makes the rice meal enjoyable. The daily meal – dinner at this instance -- becomes filling, which could last the children the whole night. According to our cooks, they use at least six packs of instant noodles every day – from Monday to Saturday. With the cash crunch now bugging Tembari’s feeding program, I’m appealing to donors who may be able to supply Tembari children on a weekly basis a carton of noodles (one carton contains 42 packs), or four cartons a month. This would greatly relieve Tembari of the burden using its limited funds, which it could use instead on other items. 

Tired of tinned fish … RD Tuna supplies the Tembari children 15 cartons of its product a month. During the earlier months after we first received this generous donation, tuna meat has become a major part of the children’s daily meal – dinner for that matter. Then after a time, one of the kids told me he got tired of having tuna every day for his meal, although it is cooked with greens. He said he wanted to have something that tastes like meat. Last month, a donor made it possible – he sent frozen sausages and frozen chicken meat, enough to cheer up the kids for three weeks. The goodies consumed,  they fell back to tinned fish again. Since it was only a one-time sausage-chicken meat donation, the children have to settle for tuna once again until somebody would come forward to provide the kids this important meat protein. The meat donor spent at least K1,000 to make a great change in the children’s meal. Quite a sum, but it’s worth it for those who really wanted to help. In a way, he earned a credit for several building blocks towards strengthening the children’s future, and I am personally grateful for his gesture.

Tinned fish supply

Representatives from RD Tuna Canners Ltd recently visited the Tembari Children’s Care (TCC) center at ATS-Oro Settlement at 7 Mile outside Port Moresby, PNG to cheer up the facility’s beneficiary children with foodstuff such as tinned fish. In photo are (from left) Karl Vincent M Queipo, executive director; Alpha J oan B Racanday, marketing manager; a RDTC staff; Hayward Sagembo, TCC president and Kernie D. Fanagel, program manager (RD Foundation) for PNG.

Tinned fish supply … RD Tuna Canners, Ltd, a pioneering cannery in Papua New Guinea, has assured the Tembari children of its continued support towards their daily feeding program. RDTC began supplying the day care center facility three years ago, a generous monthly food assistance offered by managing director Pete C Celso. And the tinned fish that the facility has been receiving monthly is not just an ordinary tinned fish product which RDTC produces but a high-quality processed white tuna meat that is being exported to the European countries. The cannery’s monthly supply of 15 cartons of 1.8kg cans is consumed by Tembari’s 150-160 beneficiary children over two to three weeks. The tuna protein goes with rice and veggie meals that are served every day from Monday to Saturday. Celso told this blogsite that his company would like to see the Tembari children benefit from the quality protein that comes with RD products. - AP Hernandez

Updates on tembari children

         The Tembari septic tank facility project in progress.


October 12, 2012


By ALFREDO P HERNANDEZ

A Friend of Tembari Children

 

1) Septic tank facility. Through a private donor, Tembari Children’s Care (TCC) is now working on the installation of a septic tank for toilets that will be installed once the four-room classroom building project for our pre-school kids has been built at the compound. The dimension of the ditch that is now being worked on by a private contractor is more than 9 feet x 18 feet, with a capacity of 56,000 liters. The estimated cost of the project is about K20,000. The school building project is being funded by a group of individuals from the expatriate community in Port Moresby in coordination with the Australian High Commission. While Tembari has its own batch of preschoolers (those who come from very poor families at the settlement), another batch of preschoolers attending the same classes comes from families who could afford to pay. The problem is that Tembari is the only preschool facility at ATS Oro and that it cannot refuse this group of children, although the facility is designed for the less-privileged children from the community.


2) PMV fares for Tembari schoolchildren. Two Filipino companies have solved our problem concerning our elementary schoolchildren’s daily bus fares in going to their school at Gordons (Wardstip) from the ATS Oro settlement. The Associated Builders & Contractors (ABC) and the Paradise Business Consultants, Ltd have chipped in a total of K1,000 (every month) to support the 30 children’s daily bus fares of K2 each -- going to school and coming home to the settlement. But it seems, problems continue to haunt our kids. The Tembari management has hired a 15-seater PMV to pick up the kids every morning at the center. The bus could only shuttle a maximum of 20, leaving another batch of 10. But due to the traffic congestion at Erima, especially at the roundabout, the shuttle bus could not return to the village as fast as it can for the other 10 kids. When it finally reached the center, it’s almost mid-morning and the 10 kids were late for school. Now, Tembari president Hayward Sagembo is looking for a bigger PMV which could take the 30 schoolchildren in one go. And by next school year, we are going to enroll our kids in just one school – preferably WardStrip so those whom we are supporting with daily bus fares could be picked up from one spot. Right now, our schoolchildren totaling 60 (30 of them can afford to pay the daily bus fares) are enrolled not only at Wardstrip but also in two other schools in Port Moresby.

3) Foodstuff such as tinned fish/meat needed. Our foodstuff stock is dwindling fast and we would have shortage soon to be able to support our daily feeding program. Right now we have about 150-160 children who are depending on Tembari for their daily meals. Tembari would like to provide the children with enough fish and meat protein to improve the quality of their daily meals. If your company could help us sustain the daily food needs of the Tembari children, please don’t hesitate to let us know. The children consume about 36 bags of rice (10kg) monthly, (15kg a day from Monday to Saturday) alongside other food items. We are also having problem with firewood that we use in cooking the kids’ everyday meal. Right now, our cooking staff would use three bundles of firewood (from 9 Mile roadside vendors) at a cost of K10 per or K60 a week. We don’t have enough funds for this expense, as we try to make use of it in buying ingredients that go with tinned fish/meat. We are appealing to timber companies with timber yards within in Port Moresby for their donation of off-cut timbers for firewood.

4) Land title hoped to come soon. Tembari is still trying to hasten the release of a land title to the 3,500sqm plus property that it occupies now. Our school project director – a British expat – is working hard to speed up the process of its release. I has been advised that the General Surveyor from the Lands Department visited our compound recently as part of the titling process. The property would be enclosed with a perimeter fence, which would cost some few thousands of kina. The project director is working out a funding for this, alongside the septic tank facility.


For comments, please email the blogster: ahernandez@thenational.com.pg and alfredophernandez@y7mail.com