Full Steam Ahead

Kindergarten Students (above and below)

It has been very steamy here – hot, sticky, at times windy and rainy! It has also been very exciting the past few days. We have selected a school that will suit and the school community are very much looking forward to working with us to construct a play space for 3-8 year olds.

Sabeto District School is a rural school located around ten minutes from our base. It has an obligation to educate children from four surrounding villages / settlements – some of which are located on floodplains and some in the interior / highlands. There are currently 207 students plus around 30 kindergarten kids.

School fees are $FJ90/family/year (around $AUS50) however due to extremely low incomes of the community, only 52% of students were able to pay in 2012. In addition, 90% of families were severely affected by the March 2012 floods and some by the more recent cyclone Evan. Despite these challenges dedicated teaching staff have enabled 100% of students to successfully pass exit examinations and be accepted into secondary school over the past three years.

Existing Sandpit between the poles

Looking towards the space we have to transform!

The existing playground consists of a tiny sandpit area (with no sand), some tyres and a see-saw that is about to collapse. The school and kindergarten committees of management have requested that we utilise this space to provide suitable equipment for 3-8 year olds, so that kindergarten and the first 2 year levels at school can share the equipment. The staff have a strong focus on early childhood development and the kindergarten teacher has been working hard to provide an enriching learning environment. She has been hoping for a decent, fenced sandpit (complete with sand) for the past few years. Together we have agreed that we will aim to construct a large sandpit under a shady tree, some climbing and balancing equipment and possibly some tunnels, using timber, tyres, chain and rope. There is an old metal swing frame, which may also be able to be repaired and incorporated into the area.

Class 4 Boys

The local community have agreed to arrange for volunteers from the village to help with construction and resourcing of materials. The principal is hoping to allocate the bigger students (12-14 year olds) on a roster to work alongside us so they can benefit from cross-cultural experience and take some pride and ownership in the playground.

Makelesi – the lady who looked after Tarli and Kiarra when we lived in Fiji – lives in the local community and will be in charge of on-site childcare for our team. Tarli and Kiarra have had lots of fun the past few days with Makelesi and cannot wait to be back in May. We have gathered data on cost and availability of building materials and tools, and still have a few tasks ahead of us.... 

Class 1 (Prep) Boys