Couple team up to help children in Kokoda

Education

Cornelius and Wari Pondo are the husband-and-wife team teaching at the Gorari Elementary School along the Kokoda Track.
The Pondos were inspired to become teachers to educate children in their village in the Sohe district of Oro.
When an opportunity arose in 2012 to attend a teaching course at Mamba, run by the Kokoda Track Foundation, they both jumped at the chance and applied.
After graduating, the couple returned to Gorari and built a classroom made of bush materials to teach children aged between five and eight years.
Attendance in the bush classrooms has grown substantially over the years. They now have more than 150 elementary students.
To provide a more comfortable learning environment, the Kokoda Initiative recently constructed a new double classroom for Gorari Elementary School. The initiative is a long-standing partnership between Australia and Papua New Guinea.
Wari Pondo said both classrooms were being used for elementary grades at the school. One room is used for prep and grade 1 classes. The other is used by the grade 2 class taught by her husband.
“When the classroom was built for our elementary grades, it really assisted us because previously our students were sitting on bare earth,” said Pondo.
“With the new classroom, I am able to teach students from morning until afternoon, even when it is raining. Students also have proper desks and chairs.
“Thank you to the Australian Government for these new classrooms, as they are having a great impact on the lives of these students, and will help them to have a brighter future.”