Fiji Millenium 3 Project 2007

July-August 2007

After a year of fund raising, language and culture training and project planning the Fiji Project team set off for the Fiji Islands on 2 nd July 2007. Following two days packed with social, cultural and physical acclimatisation in Suva, the capital, we boarded an inter-island ferry which transported us overnight to Vanua Levu.

We walked about a mile every morning to the primary school that was the object of our project this year. Initially our days were spent scraping and sanding old paint from the walls of the school as well as stripping away rotten wood from the facia board and window frames.

We had been prepared to renovate three classrooms and construct a small set of steps but our illustrious team leaders decided that this was not adequate and so the local Fijian people with whom we were working were set to work stripping and renewing the roof while the Scottish team were designated six classrooms instead of the original three. A new set of concrete steps was also constructed, to replace the slippery slope that led from the road to the school.

Although the work was hard, with temperatures about 30ºC, the effort was hugely rewarding. The children of Batibalavu school whom we saw playing and learning were obviously very excited by their new facilities and it was fulfilling to feel that we were making a difference to their education and their lives.

After work and perhaps a game of touch rugby against the surprisingly fleet footed pupils, teachers and parents of Batimbalavu School we would return to Dreketi. There, a throng of children would join us for a swim in the sea and more touch rugby, which here we would call a contact sport.

Every night most of the team could be found at the vakatunaloa (grog shed) for a few bilos (bowls) of yaqona (the local drink which is served from a large communal tanoa and drunk from bilos made from coconut shells). Here was the village talking shop, where the stories of the day were swapped and traditional Fijian songs were sung, accompanied by guitar

On the last day of work, the five villages in the district had planned a thanksgiving ceremony. The senior district education officer was there to give a speech of thanks and a tabua or whales tooth (the highest cultural honour in Fiji) was presented to the team for their efforts. Our departure from Dreketi was an emotional one with the whole village assembling to say a tearful farewell and dozens crowded into trucks to say a final ‘moce’ (goodbye) as we boarded our overnight ferry and sailed into the sunset back to Suva