A parliamentary delegation from Australia recently visited the Good Samaritan Early Childhood Centre in Abaokoro, North Tarawa, and met with staff, children and families.
Established by the Good Samaritan Sisters in 2009, the Centre provides pre-school learning opportunities for children aged three to five years.
Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, Minister for International Development and the Pacific, and Senator Claire Moore, Labour’s Shadow Minister, were on a three-day visit to Kiribati.
“I was really pleased to visit the Early Childhood Centre and see the good work that the Good Samaritans were doing,” said Fierravanti-Wells.
“There was a great sense of community with both children and parents there to welcome us,.”
Fierravanti-Wells is a former student of a Good Samaritan School, St Mary’s Star of the Sea College, Wollongong, in New South Wales.
Last year she met up with Sister Clare Condon, Congregational Leader of the Good Samaritan Sisters.
Condon encouraged the senator to visit the sisters in Kiribati and see the work of the Centre first-hand.
Moore said the visit to the Good Samaritan Early Childhood Centre was “very special”.
“The long-standing dedication of the sisters was evident in the historical photographs at the Centre, and the clear commitment to the future of education for Kiribati children,” she said.
Good Samaritan Sister Kakare Biita, Director of the Good Samaritan Early Childhood Centre, said she and Sister Tuata Terawete were “very happy to welcome our important guests from Australia”.
In her welcoming address Biita spoke about the history of the Good Samaritan Sisters’ presence and ministry in Abaokoro.
She outlined the planned development of the Centre, which includes the construction of an additional classroom and staff area.
“We are very honoured for their visit,” said Kakare, “especially for the visit of Senator Honourable Concetta, a former student of a Good Samaritan School, and we admired her as a woman gifted for leadership.”
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