The University of Papua New Guinea’s Milne Bay Students Union (MBSU) in collaboration with the Milne Bay Province Community in Port Moresby are coming together to raise funds for a remote high school in the Milne Bay province.
Previous fundraising efforts by MBSU was to raise funds to support the Union in carrying out education and awareness programs on the importance of education in rural areas of the Milne Bay Province.
Through this program, MBSU members visited rural villages and communities in each LLG in Milne Bay Province to conduct awareness workshops.
This year will see money generated from fundraising efforts to be put towards assisting the teachers and students of James Chalmers Memorial High School (JCMHS) located in the Fife Bay area of the Milne Bay Province.
Prakash Mowana, MBSU President shared his thoughts about what the students hope to achieve, “This is a big initiative, the first of its kind for the student association. Supporting this local school will not only help its students and teachers but it will paint a good picture of the MBSU.”
The Milne Bay students are focused on raising funds for the school as they do not have a library and other facilities, it is through this initiative that the school will receive a huge boost to its existing infrastructure.
Mowana added that, “…we gain more support and trust from the community and hopefully even more support from the Milne Bay Provincial Government. Ideally, we want to bring positive change to the province through initiatives like this.”
JCMHS was ranked by the Department of Education in 2016, as one of the top 10 schools in the country that performs exceptionally well academically.
The two major fundraising drives that the MBSU will be hosting this year include the 2017 Milne Bay Provincial Day which will be held at the Sir John Guise Indoor Complex.
Following the day event there will also be a fundraising dance, the ‘Milne Bay Nite,’ which will be held at the Cosmopolitan. The Fundraising Committee hopes to garner support from local artists that can boost sales by performing during the Milne Bay Nite.
In addition to the provincial day and the fundraising dance set to take place sometime in August will be a corporate gala event which is the second major event planned by the MBSU.
Image: Aerial view of James Chalmers Memorial High School, Fife Bay, Milne Bay Province.
