More than 300 primary School pupils from three villages on the southern part of the Island of Pentecost have been able to meet, see and touch for the first time, the Mini Games Mascot, Nasi and The Sagoa.
The Zone Curriculum Advisor, Ms Priscilla Olul, said that the inception of Champions Program has boosted the knowledge of the children about the Pacific Mini Games, that Vanuatu is ready to host this year.
She said having the Champions Program taught in the classroom has been an eye opener for all the children to the big sporting event that will take place in December, and also spread information on sport and culture, healthy lifestyle, healthy habits, environment and having a champion’s character.
“We in the islands are left out of all that information that you, in the city, have access to. We, particularly the children, are so happy to hear about the games and learn more about those topics, and this week has been a very exciting week for them,” said Ms Olul.
“Since our schools started to teach the Champions Program’s lesson plans in the classrooms, the children were able to discover what is a Pacific Mini Games, learned about different sports, participating countries and athletes as well. Let me tell you that having the Champions program posters is just amazing to use as teaching materials, because they really boost their knowledge, and this is what we have been looking for. We need posters or pictures because they speak for themselves.”
The Van2017 Mascot Team began their tour in Penama Province this week, starting in Pentecost on Monday and visiting Pangi, Rangsuksuk and Ranwas primary schools.
“As a ZCA, I wish that the Champions Program is implemented in every school on this island, because this is the best program designed to be taught in rural schools. But I told all schools that this program is worth teaching, given that each lessons plan has their own posters. One of the positive feedbacks that really impacted on children’s knowledge is the importance of having healthy food, especially when they did in practice a slow food cooking activity.
“I encourage the authorities to keep a similar program after the Games, because we in the islands see the importance of it and how it impacted our children’s education,” said Ms Olul.
Van2017 Mascot Team left Port Vila on Monday this week to start a journey of 12 days in the islands of Pentecost, Maewo and Ambae, and plan to visit more than 34 schools, with the support of Okeanos sailing canoe.
As part of its legacy plan that advocates for environmental issues, Okeanos was chosen to assist the journey of Nasi the loveable Bird and the Sagoa, as a reflection of traditional ways of inter-island journeys to communicate and making awareness.
Okeanos has been especially designed for inter-islands journeys. This traditional Polynesian canoe is entirely green, purely operated by the wind, the sun and powered by coconut oil. The Okeanos Vanuatu and its crew have helped with disaster relief by delivering crops and seedlings to the different islands where the agricultural world was weakened and intend to continue helping Vanuatu, one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to natural disasters.
Photo supplied