Day One

Thanks to a great team effort, we all managed to load up tools, water, and kids onto the bus on time at 7.30am. Christine described the bumpy bus trip as full of happy loudness. We passed people on their way to work on horses, or their way to school in pristine white uniforms. The scenery of jagged mountains and sugar cane fields was amazing. For Facebook updates click here .

Mark & Tim start off the digging!

Em & Jac shift poles

Preparation work and set out on Sunday enabled us to get stuck straight into digging holes at 8am this morning, while some of the team enjoyed 30 mins of devotion and prayers and singing.

The team made a good start to the 46 holes to be dug and then the rate of progress increased despite the humidity and heat, thanks to the village rugby team arrival and assistance.

Jen, Dave & Megan levelling posts

By 3pm all holes were dug, timber poles positioned and levelled ready for the concrete pour tomorrow. Traditional Fijian dishes were served for morning tea and lunch. It was spectacular and well in excess of our needs.

The team assisted the school with its reading program by listening to the children read for 15 minutes before afternoon classes commenced. Chaos ensued in many of the rooms with students begging to be heard and no teacher in site.

Jen & Harrison at reading time

Loom bands created a wonderful opportunity for our children to bond with the Fijian children and enabled Tarli, Kiarra, Riley, Sam, Millie, Aimee, Mima, Harrison and Amir to join the Fijian school classes for most of the day to undertake a mixture of Australian homework and class activities. They did exceptionally well in what was at times a confronting and culturally overwhelming situation. The teachers were so involved in creating they sometimes forgot to help the students with the bands. At the team debrief it was agreed that the kids would run loom band workshops in the other classes during the week.

Aimee, Millie and Mima in Class 4 running loom band lessons.

Outdoor game time

Monday afternoon is sports time and so our team kids joined their classes for games, rugby, tunnel ball, and netball training. The younger kids (Sarah, Lorelai, Tane) enjoyed some free time under the mango tree after a very big morning in kindy. 

Kindy

Lorelai at kindy

Sarah at kindy

Kindy was very chaotic – most of the local 3-5 year olds were too interested in the visitors to concentrate on anything else!

Over dinner the team children initiated their own casual debrief and covered issues such as physical affection, physical punishment, teachers leaving the room, multilingual classes, everyone wanting to borrow their erasers and sharpeners, lots of students waiting to do something with them or be their best friend and comments heard such as one teacher saying the school is so poor they only have crayons, no textas.

Today we learned that our team was the second ever to support the school since establishment in 1917.

Mark, Geoff & Dave lining up poles for climbing frame

Local rugby player helps out

Amir in Class 2

Amazement at seeing themselves on the screen!

Sam & Harrison in Class 2

Tane - Site Supervisor