Friday, November 09, 2007

Schools Supplies - Vanuatu

Last Friday evening I was told by an expat that she’d heard a marvellous story about some yachties who had turned up at a couple of Vanuatu schools and made unexpected gifts of a small library to each. Yes it was Maajhi-Re. It seems good news travels fast around Vanuatu.

The expat was a yachtie taking time out to work with the Peace Corps here in Port Vila. She is setting up training programs for teachers, 40 per cent of whom have a “calling”, but no actual training. Other yachties, mutual friends, introduced us to her over sundowners at the Waterfront Bar and Grill.

We are in Port Vila for an extended but unexpected stay until David’s pinched nerve and sciatica problems setlle down enough for us to consider the passage to NZ. It is cyclone season but we figure we can do what is necessary in this good natural harbour in case a cyclone comes along early.

So where have we been the last 2 months since leaving Fiji and where have the little school libraries been gifted?

We cleared into Vanutau at Sola, on Vanua Lava, the main island up north in the Banks Group, in mid September. We heard of a cultural festival at Gaua, (the next island south) and headed there for a week. Getting to know the 3 local villages quite well, we also visited the local school, the Losolava Primary School. It is very well run but with quite limited resources so the first library was gifted. The headmistress was delighted, if a little overwhelmed, and said “It’s a miracle that one day you just come walking up from the beach with this wonderful gift”. The year 8 class with their Peace Corps teacher, took time out to share their classroom with us and thank us for the books and teacher aids.

Headmistress Patricia and Volunteer teacher Stephen with the year 8 class




Losolava Primary School, Gaua


Heading down the Vanuatu island chain we made the difficult south east passage into the prevailing trade winds to reach Naone Village, on the island of Maewo. This we visited last year and the village and local school were the catalyst for our school supplies project. We were determined to provide a library for these welcoming and lovely people. On arrival, we took ashore some photos from last year’s visit by way of introduction, but a number of people had already recognised us, including Vannerly, the young teacher we met last year. If you have only had 3 yachts visit in one year you tend to recall the visitors I guess. Our gift was enormously appreciated by the headmistress, Delma. It was Constitution Day holiday and World Teacher’s Day celebrations and we were invited to the village ceremonies at the school, not suspecting that we would be the special guests for the celebration as a result of the gift. Speeches were made to the assembled villages by the pastor and schoolteacher who described in detail the gift of books received. God was duly thanked for sending us to the village and the school.

Delma’s response was wonderful – very quiet, she just looked me straight in the eyes, shrugged her shoulders and said “How can we ever thank you?” But we had already seen the benefits of the gifts. A small group of boys was sitting silently on the grass watching us with large eyes as David pumped up the new soccerball. When finished he stood up, offered them a kick and next thing a game was on. Boys and young men came from everywhere and the boisterous game progressed with much laughter.

Soon after, I came across a small group of young women who were huddled in the dorrway of the headmistresses office. They were completely engrossed in the pages of one of the new books, with one girl reading excerpts and translating into local dialect, and the rest completely mesmerised.




Delma - proud of her new library


Teacher Vannerley, Robyn and students

The third gift given was to a little school on the northwest coast of the island of Malekula, in Malua Bay. We called in to this secluded bay for a 2 day stopover and after visting the school decided it was definitely a candidate for a small library gift.Origianlyy setup by Seventh Day Adventists, it had long ago been deserted and the local community was struggling to keep it going. The 3 teachers were pleased to show us around and tell us of the efforts they were making. I was touched by the fact they were so proud of their efforts and did not once complain about lack of resources, despite being one of the poorest of schools we visited. They were thrilled when we came ashore after lunch with a large box full of books and teaching charts. I went through the books with them as we unpacked the bos in one of the classrooms. Surrounded by a sea of eager young faces, it seemed an appropriate time to pull out my favourite story of “The Exploding Frog”. It is a delightful large picture book and fun to tell the story and see the looks on the children’s faces as the frog grew bigger until he finally exploded. Actually, I think the 2 younger teachers may have enjoyed it even more than the children.

Teachers and students show off their new library at Malua Bay



We were due to return that evening – the teachers wanted to thank us once again for the library as they were a little overcome earlier by the extent of the books and what it meant for their work. Unfortunately we were unable to come ashore as David’s back condition was deteriorating. At first light next morning we weighed anchor to head as quickly as possible to Vila (still 3 days away) as it had become clear he could not conintue without medical intervention. The painkillers were assisting but the inflamed nerves were getting no respite with the constant movement of the boat and it was imperative we get to Port Vila, a doctor, the availability of drugs and flat calm water to enable him to get the necessary rest and attention required.

So we still have one more library gift on board that will have to wait for the next season’s cruise into the islands. It has been a most staisfying year in terms of the School’s Project. We we were pleased to find a few schools, mainly with EU funding or similar, that were reasonably resourced. We made it a point to visit the schools everywhere we went to ensure the library gifts went where the best use would be made of them. It is our belief that the gift of books has the capacity to change the outcomes for many teachers and their students. One thing is sure – if the expressions of delight and wonderment we experienced are indicative, the books have created untold opportunities for ni-Van children and teachers to learn and grow.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Interesting to know.