Joy as 50 village farmers learn to read and write

FIFTY locals from 12 remote villages located along borders of Morobe and Madang were recipients of an adult literacy training.
The training was the initiative of the Kowesuru Cooperative Society to help farmers know how to read and write and facilitated by the Evangelical Lutheran Church of PNG, under its Church Partnership Programme (CPP), and funded by Australian Aid.
Kowesuru Cooperative Society manager and specialist in coffee production Archie Luther said the people of Ranara Circuit in Raicoast, Madang and Kaiapit Circuit in Markham, Morobe, were grateful for the training and support.
“The two-week training conducted at Mamia village in the Umi-Atzera local level government of Markham was something that most of the rural population on the border provinces needed,” he said.
The participants were farmers who did not know how to read and write. “They cannot read a simple handbook. Once they are literate, they can understand things and benefit from government services,” Luther said. The society has 169 farmers, both from Morobe and Madang, who grow a variety of crops including cocoa, coffee, vanilla and others.
Luther called on the government to intervene in terms of capacity building to support the recipients with further training.