Rochelle Middleton & Betty-Anne Kamp
HUFC Equipment Manager Rochelle Middleton (right) with Kuli Library Project volunteer Betty-Anne Kamp, and the donated balls.
In the year of the Football World Cup it seems only appropriate that rather than simply discarding balls that are near the end of their life, they are instead given a second chance in a country where even used balls are a luxury. Hillcrest United Football club (HUFC) has been given the opportunity to do this through the Kuli Library Project, initiated by NZ Aid Scholar, Theresia Kau, a native of the Papua New Guinea highlands, and recently completed Masters student in Tourism and Hospitality at the University of Waikato. Theresia Kau recognised a need for her people to upskill themselves, starting with a sound basic education. To start this process, The Kuli Library Project was initiated in November2013, with local and secondary schools in the Hamilton region asked if they were able to provide used books and teaching resources, enough to fill a container. The project was given a huge boost when they were able to select books from the (now closed) Church College library. A third of the books collected from the Hamilton district are destined for two libraries (a Senior and a Junior one) in Theresia’s area, where the local community has prepared two former classrooms to receive them. The remaining books, made up of teaching resources and readers, will be distributed to the local schools and also to small village schools up the valleys.
Our club (HUFC) became aware of this project through Betty-Anne Kamp, an associate of Rochelle Middleton (HUFC Equipment Manager). Knowing that HUFC had a number of balls that needed to be retired, Rochelle approached Betty-Anne as to whether they would be an appropriate addition for the project. The offer was enthusiastically accepted, and so the best 35 balls, and 7 retired ball pumps, were selected and donated to the project. The balls will be widely distributed along with the books. Theresia is excited at the prospect of having the soccer balls with her to give to the local children when she visits the small village schools up her local valley, and is enormously grateful for the donation.
The container is now packed and on its way to the port of Lae in Papua New Guinea. Theresia has returned home, where her community will be waiting in anticipation. Her story, with photos, can be viewed at bettyakamp.wix.com/kuli-library, which will be updated as more information is received from the highlands.