Each day in the village of Niefan, Equatorial Guinea, Pilar Bengobsam Ndong, a widowed mother of five, awakens at dawn to feed her livestock, prepare breakfast, and make the several-mile walk along a dirt mountain road to work.
She has one of the most important jobs in her country--educating and transforming the lives of her country’s youth.
Ms. Ndong is a pioneer. She is among the first in Equatorial Guinea to receive formal teacher training as part of the $40 million partnership, Prodege (Program for Educational Development of Equatorial Guinea), led by Hess Corporation and the Government of Equatorial Guinea.
Prodege aims to transform the primary school system in this West African nation with an enhanced curriculum of accelerated basic math, language, and science offered in a cooperative setting where children are taught and teach each other.
In two years, Prodege has trained hundreds of teachers here and the partnership has established more than 40 model schools and continues to develop curriculum in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport.
Prodege has also built wells to provide much-needed potable water at the schools and enlisted local businesses to supply furniture for classrooms. The program is managed by the Academy for Educational Development (AED).
“Before, we just had a building with walls,” said Ms. Ndong, who teaches first grade. “There were no materials, activity corners, desks, or chairs like we have now. And the students like this new teaching method because they learn responsibility and work as a team.”
Prodege was designed to be a sustainable program that will benefit the people of Equatorial Guinea long into the future.
“We have been successful because the responsibility for the program is shared between Hess and the government of Equatorial Guinea," said Paula Luff, director of Social Responsibility for Hess. "Without this shared commitment we could never make the kind of systemic impact that's necessary to enhance the quality of life here.”
According to Ms. Luff, "Social responsibility is a core Hess value and central to the way we do business. Our focus is on improving health and education in communities where there is greatest need so that we truly do make a lasting difference for future generations."