Here’s the first photos from the building project taking place on Nairai Island. The remote and very poor Waitoga Primary School was advised a little over three months ago that the school faced closure due to the poor sanitation facilities. Receiving the closure papers was a sad and nervous moment for the island’s teachers and parents, who’s children faced the prospect of relocating schools or worse still having no education at all available to them.
The school requested assistance from Think Pacific and in conjunction with our council and government partners we sent a team to the island in May 2012 to assess the project and design an action plan that would ensure the school could stay open. Much to the excitement and relief of the island, TP’s July 2012 expedition team arrived to Nairai to an incredible welcome and we’ve been straight to work digging the foundations for the brand new toilet and sanitation block, which our group will complete over the next two weeks!
We have lots of hard graft ahead, but the desire to complete the project and safeguard the future of little Waitoga school is motivating the team along and it’s going to be a very special moment indeed come the end of August when the job is done!
Alongside this vital building project, the team are also in full swing inspiring the Fijian kids! We have started the first kindergarten programme for the village children, brought new books, games, art and music to establish afternoon youth clubs and with qualified teachers in our ranks, the Fijian teachers have been mightily impressed with the assistance in the classroom from our volunteers. Sport is always a passion on every island in Fiji and the team are well underway leading daily coaching for the kids. We even have the ‘TP Olympics’ taking place this week too! We’ll have a full update from all the different projects and lots more photos to come at the weekend!
Tags: expedition fiji, fiji island volunteer, volunteer abroad, volunteer fiji, volunteer project
