OCEANIA/PAPUA NEW GUINEA - From Australia aid for the education of children of "forgotten people"

Vagiput (Agenzia Fides) - About five years ago the project to support the parish of St. Ignatius Toowong, Queensland (Australia) was launched, in favor of Vagiput Unity School, in Vagiput, in Papua New Guinea. The latter in 2012 will finally be recognized and supported by the government. This will allow a greater number of children in the villages of the area to attend all eight years of primary school. According to information sent to Agenzia Fides from the General Curia of the Jesuits, the Parish of St. Ignatius had begun to support the project in 2007 by sending books and other school supplies. In recent years it had been expanded with funds collected to give students the opportunity to continue their studies and to meet the many needs of the school. The twinning of the parish of St. Ignatius and Vagiput Unity School, which now owns the most well-stocked library of elementary school across Papua New Guinea, which is the result of Ray and Monica Otto, a commitment soon shared by other parishioners and organizations towards a community that Ray Otto calls the "forgotten people." "Our parishioners have played an important role in the success of the initiative. The words are not enough to explain what this means for these children who now have the opportunity to attend school," said Ray Otto. (SL) (Agenzia Fides 29/12/2011)