Kingston, Jamaica: Two staff from Digicel won the privilege of sharing best practise in Jamaica as part of the Digicel Foundation Live Learn Love campaign.
Digicel PNG Foundation’s Community Development Manager Hane Toua and Digicel’s IT Specialist Timothy Kore were winners of the Live Learn Love competition that ran in all four countries that Digicel Foundation has been established in.
The purpose of the competition was to encourage Digicel staff to gain a greater appreciation of the work the Foundations do in their respective countries. The month-long awareness was driven through weekly quizzes with all correct answers going into a draw to win. Out of the 446 staff who participated, Timothy’s name was drawn and he nominated Jamaica as the market to visit.
He is accompanied by a Digicel PNG Foundation member, who was selected by the Digicel PNG Foundation Board who measured their knowledge of the work of Digicel PNG Foundation, their ambassadorship, their level of passion and enthusiasm and engagement. Only half a point separated the selection in the presentation scoresheet.
Hane and Timothy are the winners of the inaugural Digicel PNG Foundation Live Learn Love campaign with an all-expense-paid trip of a lifetime.
Being the programs team leader in the Foundation,Toua hopes to learn new techniques and methods that Digicel Jamaica Foundation are using and incorporate them to the programs we run here in PNG, particularly in the area of Special Needs. “I am so excited about our trip and I am going to go with a very open mind so I can learn more,” Toua said.
Kore has recently grown his appreciation of the work that Digicel PNG Foundation does on a day to day basis especially during the competition and his win of the major prize really boosted his eagerness to learn and assist more wherever he can.
“The real appreciation for me from participating in the Live Learn Love Competition is seeing the Foundation deliver basic health and education services to remote areas of PNG which most of us from the cities take for granted. I am proud to know that the company I work for has the heart to give back to the community, and in doing so, helping to bridge gaps on basic services that should be a right to every citizen and not a privilege.“
“I’m excited about going to Jamaica to see the work of the Digicel Jamaica Foundation and also to see our Digicel Headquarters and the operations in the IT department there and bring back some of the lessons learnt for my team here.” Kore said.
Digicel PNG Foundation CEO, Beatrice Mahuru said she was very proud of her two representatives in Jamaica and encouraged them to enjoy themselves and to STAY CURIOUS.
The two Digicel PNG Foundation ambassadors will be in Jamaica for a week, visiting to project and program sites with the Digicel Jamaica Foundation Team and other Jamaican personalities.
They will be back in PNG on Monday October 3, keen to share their lessons learnt.
To date Digicel PNG Foundation has funded 485 classrooms and 15 libraries, 23 Mobile Health Clinics, 6 rural Health Aid Posts, 3 Women’s Resource Centres, co-funded 5 Family Support Centres in partnership with UNICEF and NDoH. We have graduated 261 grassroots community based teachers in early childhood development and learning and over 15,000 men and women are now equipped with basic business skills.
Over 900 people with special needs, together with their families and communities have been impacted positively by the Community Based Rehabilitation Program; and the Men of Honour Awards – a campaign against violence in PNG, is the latest to the Foundation’s development portfolio. So far, we have 10 winners, 30 finalists and 162 nominations. Digicel PNG Foundation appreciates that change is not going to happen overnight, but it will happen.
Established in October 2008, Digicel PNG Foundation has directly invested K65 million in PNG’s rural, remote and socially marginalized communities across all 22 provinces directly impacting over 500,000 people.