Tembari Children’s Care (TCC) president Hayward Sagembo (left) and Malaysian Association of PNG chairman of the annual charity golf organising committee Ivan Lu showing off the K40,000-cheque donated by the association. With them is Malaysian High Commissioner Datin Seri Blanche Olbery who earlier turned over the cheque to Sagembo during simple rites at the TCC centre on Saturday.
By ALFREDO P HERNANDEZ
A Friend of Tembari Children
IT WAS Big Day at Tembari centre on Saturday.
Representing the Malaysian community in Papua New Guinea, Malaysian High Commissioner Tan Seri Blanche Olbery, along with Malaysian Association of PNG Nathan Ho and chairman of the annual charity golf organising committee Ivan Lu, breezed into the facility at 7-Mile outside of Port Moresby to bring cheers to the Tembari children.
The good news came in the form of a K40,000-cheque donation (about US$18,000) to the center to boost its efforts to improve the lives of more than 200 beneficiary children who are abandoned, neglected, unfortunate and orphans.
Noting her familiarity with Tembari, Ms Olbery said the number of kids at Tembari has grown to more than 200, making it necessary for the Malaysian community to increase its funding assistance this year.
Sometime in July 2010, the same group led by Ms Olbery first met the Tembari children, whose number was just 78 but the cheque it presented was already a generous K15,000.
Speaking to the children, volunteer-workers and Tembari officers led by its president Hayward Sagembo, the Malaysian High Commisioner said that the increased funding was what her community could do at the moment, reiterating a pledge made last year that her community will continue supporting Tembari’s efforts to make a change in the lives of the children.
The cheque was received by Tembari Children’s Care (TCC) president Hayward Sagembo, who assured MAPNG as well as the rest of the audience that the money will be used wisely, the way the center did with association’s earlier donation.
Sagembo said: We made good in spending the K15,000 that MAPNG gave us last year and in fact, the last of the kina from this account finally went early this month … the K40,000 donation today came in very timely to boost once again our cash flow …”
In a remark, Ho said that the MAPNG has increased its fundraising proceeds from more than K500,000 last year to K620,000 this year.
“With this, we are able to increase our assistance to Tembari to K40,000 from the K15,000 it first received last year.”
Aside from Tembari, other charity groups in Port Moresby led by Sir Buri Kidu Heart Institute also became beneficiaries of the K620,000 that the association raised this year.
Noting that it was important to be educated, Ho stressed that the Malaysian community would like to involve itself in educating the Tembari children.
He said: “Children are the future of PNG and with this as our guiding light, we would like to see the Tembari chidren get an education, and hope that our funding assistance could help make this come true.”
For his part, Lu praised Tembari for making use of MAPNG’s last year’s assistance wisely.
“We have our trust in Tembari, one reason we have increased this year’s assistance … it has done a good job in making a change in the lives of the beneficiary children.”
The Malaysian visitors were treated with traditional dances participated in by Tembari’s volunteer mothers and beneficiary children.
During a brief tour around the facility, I informed the Malaysian High Commissioner, Ivan Lu and Nathan Ho that we have decided to set aside K20,000 from the assistance to be used in constructing a double-classroom structure to house our growing number of pre-school children.
The structure to be built from knock-down and fre-fabricated parts within the Tembari compound would cost K120,000.
So far, we have already K30,000 for this project, with bigger hopes to produce the rest of the amount before the year is over from donors.
The rest of the K40,000 would go towards the center’s day to day operations and to some urgent needs.
At present, Tembari is looking after 215 children. Of this, 103 are old and new preschoolers, 79 in elementary school around Port Moresby. The rest are non-school age children.
With help from various sectors that included corporate entities, foundations, associations, aid groups, consulates and individuals, Tembari is able to provide meals to the beneficiary children twice a day from Monday to Saturday as well as provide preschool, elementary and primary education to beneficiary children who are abandoned, neglected, unfortunate and orphans.
With this,
I say: MORE POWER TO THE MALAYSIAN COMMUNITY and the Malaysian Association of PNG!
Volunteer mothers and Tembari kids performing an Oro province traditional dance before the Malaysian guests.
Malaysian High Commisisoner Datin Seri Blanche Olbery (center) applauds the traditional dancers'
The Tembari singing group entertains the Malaysia guests with a tradional song from Oro province where their families have come from.
For feedback, please write to: ahernandez@thenational.com.pg
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