Mothers learn new healthy skill

SIMPLE health practices can go a long way to help reduce preventable diseases such as having clean plates and dishes to serve food or cooking utensils.
Many parents in settlements in Port Moresby are also illiterate and the general literacy rate is low in these communities, thus, they lack the skills to generate an income and engage in cash-generating activities.
This was the reason mothers from 8-Mile were delighted to learn how to make dishwashing paste during a one-day training course by World Vision.
Christine Kuaabal, a 53-year-old widow who has lived at the settlement for five years, was among 14 women from the settlement’s block two area who took part in the course.
She was more than happy with the new skill she had learned and wanted to teach other women how they could help their families.
She was amazed at how simple and cheap the process was and could not wait to share what she had learnt.
She thanked World Vision saying the training was “very helpful and gives us hope for better things to come for our families”.
The women also learnt to prepare and make snacks like banana chips which could also be sold and become another way to earn money.
World Vision’s literacy trainer Kathy Maipu said a similar training was conducted at 8-Mile block three and others are being planned for 5-Mile, Burns Peak, Garden Hill and Ranuguri settlements.
“Poverty, leading to poor health and nutrition is a consequence of low literacy in Papua New Guinea.
“Through functional literacy skills training, we want to train women, men and youth in our target settlement sites in Port Moresby to utilise their skills to generate income for their families, especially for their children,” Maipu said.