Tuesday 21st November 2023, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea || The Catholic Diocese of Alotau, one of the 20 successful recipients of the Digicel PNG Foundation’s Community Grants program for this year launched its sanitation facility project for Ho-Owalai Primary School in Milne Bay Province on 17th November 2023.

Through the Leadership for Change Community Grants Program, Digicel Foundation provides grants up to K50,000 to local organisations across the country who are delivering projects in the areas of health, education, water and sanitation, sustainable livelihoods, and safety. In addition to the grants, Digicel Foundation provides support in terms of capacity building, coordination and monitoring to ensure that these organizations successfully deliver their projects. The Community Grants Program has been provided annually since 2019, and to date given K3.5 million.

Sr. Esther Pizarras from the Catholic Diocese of Alotau thanked the Foundation for the K50,000 grant that was used to build the sanitation facility for Ho-Owalai Primary School. The school had been using pit toilets since its establishment in the 1970s. It has also been a challenging exercise to build pit toilets, as the soil in the school area is mostly clay and muddy. Thanks to the Amethyst Builders & Engineering, the facility which includes six septic toilets was constructed within a period of less than two months.

The Head Teacher for Ho-Owalai Primary School, Vase Guniniei was grateful for the ongoing support received from the Catholic Diocese of Alotau, and thanked Sr. Esther for her commitment and efforts in pushing for the school’s development. He also expressed that everyone including the school Board of Management, teachers, parents and students were excited to receive the much-needed facility that will improve hygiene and sanitation in the school.

‘’We are very thankful to Digicel Foundation for giving us this opportunity, as we will enjoy and take care of this facility for as long as we can. I would also like to encourage others who have received support from Digicel Foundation to take care of these assets that are provided freely.’’

To date, Digicel Foundation has invested K169million into projects in all 22 provinces, and over K2.102 million in Milne Bay Province. For the past 15 years, Digicel Foundation continues to invest with a goal of creating a connected, educated, safe and healthy PNG.