BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

PANAGA Primary School in Seria has raised more than $5,000 through its outreach programme collected over three years.

The programme is aimed to help children learn about charity and the importance of reaching out to others in their time of need.

The school’s Head of Professional Community Department, Rodzah Awang Angas revealed this during her presentation on the school’s outreach programme in one of the sessions of the International Conference on Education (ICE) held yesterday at the Universiti Brunei Darussalam’s (UBD).

The school’s outreach programme, dubbed Panaga Young Caring Community (PYCC), established in 2010, was to expose and promote the awareness in helping others, she said.

Rodzah said the programme aimed to educate and foster the ‘heart of giving’ to pupils as young as six years old through charity works and projects, community works and fund raising.

The programme also promotes the values of leadership among the pupils, she said.

Pupils who can demonstrate leadership qualities through academic and personality performances will be appointed as ‘ambassadors’ who play an important role in leading a team of pupils towards humanitarian projects.

“This year, we have appointed 55 ambassadors out of the 440 pupils, who can be as young as six years old,” said Rodzah.

In 2013, the school raised $991 through donations from teachers, parents and children, she said.

The entire school pupils of 440 participated in the project where they sold 150 containers of baked biscuits and spring rolls to raise the money.

The money was donated to 18 children at Saba Darat Primary School whose houses were burnt down recently, said Rodzah.

The remaining money was donated to less fortunate children of Sukang Primary School and orphans of Panaga Primary School.

Another project in 2013 involving the raising of $3,000 from the public was used to purchase books and donated to remote schools in Seria such as Sukang Primary School and Melilas Secondary School.

In 2014, a number of pupils and teachers from the Panaga Primary School visited Bukit Sawat Primary School and Merangking Primary School to build up an excellent bond between the schools especially the children, she said.

“We want to expose our children to meeting other children studying in remote areas. Some of the pupils at Bukit Sawat and Merangking Primary Schools live in unfortunate environments such as poor access to basic toiletries,” said Rodzah.

In 2015, the Panaga Primary School has raised $1,500 from selling popcorn and snow cones produced by the pupils and used the money to buy story books which was donated to Bukit Sawat Primary School, she said.

During their visit to the Bukit Sawat Primary School, they also found out three siblings of a destitute family living at Kg Sungai Mau were studying there. Photos of their tiny house made of rusty zinc walls and doors were shown during the presentation.

Rodzah told The Brunei Times that her school is planning to donate food and clothing to the destitute families within this year.

“We are still waiting to collect as much money as possible to help the family,” he said. Rodzah called on other government sectors and non-government organisations to support their PYCC project.

The Brunei Times