- By Peter Wilson, Team Leader of Napangasale Project in Vanuatu
It has been said that we should look after our own family first. Well, Vanuatu is part of our Rotary District 9910 family, and there is a lot of work that can, and is being done there by Rotarians from both New Zealand and Australia.
Through an introduction to the island of Tongoa, Vanuatu in 2010 by Waitakere Rotary, members of Whangaparaoa Rotary have now become actively involved. Our first trip was to carry out earthquake damage repairs and to refurbish the Hiwelo Primary School. The school was reopened, much to the delight of the people from nearby villages who worked tirelessly alongside us. In 2012, another team went back to the school to carry out some more unfinished work to enhance the solar power, and put lights in the classrooms. While on Tongoa, we took the opportunity to visit the Napangasale Junior Secondary School, a boarding school catering for up to 175 students from Tongoa and the surrounding islands of the Shepherd Group. The school was founded by NZ missionaries in the ‘50s, so a number of buildings are showing their age. Other facilities had disappeared, or fallen into disrepair, or were inadequate for their purpose.
Upon our return to New Zealand, Peter and Colleen set about putting together a project document which included plans and dimensions of buildings, a summary of works, and a budgetary cost, supported by pictures. This document has formed the basis for appeals to Government aid agencies, and at present an application is in process for a Global Grant from The Rotary Foundation. An appeal also went out to all Rotary clubs in New Zealand, that unfortunately resulted in a low level of response so far.
In September 2013, Colleen and Peter returned to Vanuatu to initially make contact with potential suppliers, and to visit aid agencies. We met with an Education Department Director who has committed to sending three tonnes of cement to the school to enable work to be carried out. This was most gratifying. Our visits have already born fruit in that we have been awarded a grant from the Australian High Commission, and hopefully more will follow. At the school, composting toilets were constructed. One was completed while we were there, and another since we left. These are minus the upper structures as we are waiting for funding to become available for this purpose.
We arrived in a drought which threatened to have the school closed. We had some spouting erected on one building that was left over from the Hiwelo project. It was just in time as it rained that very night, and the resulting collection of water saved the day and the school from closure.
The plan is, subject to the receipt of funding, we plan to have four teams at the school in August 2014, each spending a week at a time. Already we have had expressions of interest from Waitakere and Warkworth Rotary Clubs about sending over a team each. Will your Rotary club come too?
Don’t look for excuses as to why you should not or cannot get involved, just do it! For more information on this much needed project please contact Peter Wilson via villachantek@xtra.co.nz, or for other projects that you may be able to assist with PDG Lindsay Ford via ford.rotary@opusnet.com.au.
