Help's on the way for Fijian schools

Posted by John Barton
 
While a day off school might sound like a treat for some kids, having your classroom and all your school equipment destroyed is another matter altogether.
 
When Cyclone Winston stuck Fiji in February this year the Islands to the east of Viti Levu were especially badly affected. Primary schools on these islands were devastated, roofs lifted off and the contents blown away or destroyed.
 
 
Many school roofs have now been replaced, but children do not yet have desks and chairs for their class rooms, so pupils have to do their school work on the floor or share what desks they have.
 
Now help is on the way. Following a request from Rotary New Zealand World Community Service the members of the Rotary Club of Timaru asked schools in South Canterbury asking if they had any spare school desks and chairs which could be sent off to Fiji to replace the ones missing or damaged in the eastern Fiji Islands.
 
Eight schools (Woodbury School, Geraldine Primary, Winchester Rural, St Joseph’s Fairlie, Pleasant Point Primary, St Patrick’s Waimate, Grantlea Downs and Bluestone) generously donated over 250 desks and chairs which Timaru Rotary Club members collected, disassembled, packed in a container, and, with the generous help of Hilton Haulage, transported to Christchurch from where they will be shipped to the devastated schools on the outlying islands east of Viti Levu.
 
We’re looking forward to seeing the smiles on the faces of the children in these schools when their desks and chairs  arrive in a few weeks' time.