Saonu urges support for women

THE Evangelical Lutheran church’s Siassi women’s conference, supported by Morobe Governor Ginson Saonu, ended last week with the governor telling participants that women are managers of their household and needed to be supported.
Saonu said the empowerment of women was part of his education reform in Morobe, and his government aimed to establish girls’ schools in selected districts.
“These schools will be built to cater for all women’s learning, including leadership in the church, Sunday school teaching and home economics,” Saonu said.
“The girls’ schools are similar to the Lutheran-run institutions at Gatop, Sattleberg and Markham and the Catholic-run school (St Therese) in Lae.
“The schools will ensure a woman is trained comprehensively with both spiritual and economic principles and will be a well-educated and balanced woman to look after both her family and community.”
Saonu said he wanted educated and trained women in order to bring up their children well for the benefit of the province.
He said the first girls’ school for Tawae-Siassi, under Morobe government initiative, would be established at Malai Island, Siassi, and the onus was on district president and church women’s leaders to come together to identify a site for the school.
Saonu made the remarks at the conference’s closing and made the following commitments: a boat for Siassi Lutheran church women, a boat for Siassi Catholic church women, K10,000 each in infrastructural support for Malai, Tuam and Mandok primary schools and K5,000 for the Malai Island youth fellowship.
Apart from the commitments Saonu said a communications tower would be erected to improve communications with the outer islands.