Lahanis owner helps Bena school 

EDUCATION
By PAUL MINGA
TO achieve quality outcomes in children’s education as an investment for the future is what every parent longs for.
However, quality education depends on many things including adequate learning facilities and teachers’ accommodation.
A decent home will make the beneficiary (teacher) proud and will commit more of his or her time to improve student learning. This is an important contributing factor in producing good results in education throughout the country.
School facilities and staff housing have been the responsibility of school boards but sometimes, due to difficulties like a shortage of fuding, things do not get done and school administrations sit back watching helplessly. Such a dilemma had been faced by Bena Seventh-Day Adventist Primary School in Unggai-Bena district of Eastern Highlands.
The school had limited access to government funding and relied solely on the church education agency for most of its support. And with the growing number of students the school administration was in an awkward position where they could not do much to address the imbalance in the ratio of students to teachers due to a shortage of staff housing.
With no other option available to them the school administration decided to write a proposal seeking funding assistance from various concerned stakeholders and the business community.
Among those they approached for assistance was someone who had been generously assisting individuals, communities and organisations for years.
He is none other than Goroka Bintagor Lahanis franchise owner and naturalised citizen Simon Sia Bintagor. After going through the proposal, he was moved by the content of the proposal as he understood the plight of the community and the significance of education for them.
Without hesitation, he announced funding support for the staff housing project that surprised the school board. With funding from Sia, the community provided labour and other necessary support to build four teachers’ houses. The total cost of the houses plus the white goods in them was K80,000.
Sia was invited to officiate the opening of the four houses, witnessed by parents, students, teachers and members of the community.
Sia also donated 200 mattress to boarding students during the opening ceremony.
“lt is my honour to give back to the community and support them,” he said.
The school board chairman expressing his gratitude and spoke highly of Sia’s generosity in continuously giving to the people in good and bad times – not only to Bena but other Eastern Highlands communities as well.
Sia is a long-time resident businessman in Eastern Highlands and has been assisting people in various ways to affirm his love for the place he regards as home and the people he chose to be with.