THE SASAKAWA PEACE FOUNDATION

Supporting the Pacific Telecentre Movement in Rural Areas

3,600,000 yen [Grant Project]
The Foundation for Development Cooperation (FDC) (Australia)

Telecenters are considered to be an effective way to help overcome the information divide in the Pacific islands, and it has been recommended that telecenters be established on isolated islands and in less populated areas. However, it is necessary to develop several types of telecenters that will fit local environments. This project supports a trial to establish a telecenter in Porgera village, a local village located in a mountain area of Papua New Guinea, and to conduct community education using broadband internet connection at the telecenter. The telecenter will be co-managed by FDC and a local women’s association. Sustainable management will be tried by charging users of the telecenter. The experience of the trial will be shared among other telecenter managers through the web and workshops Activities of the first year will be as follows.

Management support
Experts will be dispatched from Australia, Japan, and New Zealand to Porgera Village to advise the Porgera Women’s Association on technical and management problems. FDC also will educate local NGOs on AIDS problems using online teaching materials. FDC will design distance learning courses between Porgera High School and Papua New Guinea University of Technology. Experts will be dispatched to Porgera Village in August, 2006, to help the Porgera Women’s Association manage the telecenter and to start the distance learning course between Porgera High School and Papua New Guinea University of Technology.
Monitoring and Evaluation (January, 2007)
Experts will be dispatched to Porgera Village to monitor and evaluate the management of the telecenter. They will also design the next year’s activity plans.

(First year of a 3-year project)