Grade 7 and 8 students at the Kumin and North Mendi Primary Schools in Mendi, Southern Highlands had the opportunity to participate in the Olympic Values Education Programme (OVEP).
The programme was held last month and was run by the Papua New Guinea Olympic Committee.
The programme was presented in two parts;
1. Why values are important to them
2. Understanding the Olympic Values
Team PNG’s HERO programme athletes and 2015 Pacific Games basketballers, Dia Muri, Betty Angula and Karate athlete, Andrew Molen facilitated the OVEP sessions.
Having athletes facilitate the sessions allowed for a more powerful interaction with the students.
The first session was held on March 30 at Kumin Primary School followed by North Mendi Primary school the next day.
They also had to opportunity to run a session with students from the Mendi School of Nursing. The sessions incorporated fun activities designed to emphasize the values.
A session on basketball drills was also held with local players on April 1 and was led by Muri and Angula.
Programme coordinator, Shareena Tanabi said they were very excited about running the programme in Mendi and enjoyed the experience in meeting and working with the students and the local athletes there.
“The OVEP programme provides educational awareness on the important Olympic Values of Respect, Excellence and Friendship and how our own PNG athletes and other athletes around the world use this to better themselves in their sporting career and in their personal lives as well,” said Tanabi.
She said the programme had also been received well in other centers in the Highlands including Hides and Mt. Hagen and the team was pleased with delivering another successful session for the students in Mendi.
“These are very important values for us and we are glad that we can share that with the students and athletes in Mendi this time,” said Tanabi.
Tanabi thanked ExxonMobil PNG for their support of the OVEP and Basketball PNG for providing resources for the visit.