John Carr -- 10 April
April 10, 2009
Posted by trudeau-william
Bula vinaka, USP is having a bit of trouble with IT lately; I can't log into my school accounts. But, thats alright since my courses don't use online based learning techniques. As the weeks are now rolling by, everything is happening so quickly. Several Rotarians in the area have literally been with their weight in gold to me! The insight I have gained about Fiji is unique and non-repeatable solely thanks to Rotary. Rescina is the Rotarian who runs the Rotary Pacific Water for Life Grants. She invited me along to two sites last week; it was unreal. The first project, I attended last Friday was the project opening for a rural primary school for several local villages. The school did not have running water nor flushing toilets before. The students and teachers used rainwater; however, whenever it does not rain for a few days the water reserve goes dry and school is cancelled until it rains. The grant for the school paid to have a well bored, a water tank, and an electric pump; and, the local men in the villages did the manual labor to run a pipe to a single faucet in the middle of the school campus. Plans are also underway to connect a shower for the teachers and connect the water to flushing toilets. A little Fijian school girl turned on the tap for the first time. Naturally, a real Fijian celebration followed! This feast includes the traditionally ceremony headed by the local chief. I had read about village life on the internet, but was skeptical about how much of the information was accurate. It is a very interesting society and I'll sure enjoy giving presentations about it when I return to the States! It is quite rare when you see a project that actually drastically improves the quality of life of hundreds of individuals (around 200 students at this school plus teachers). It is quite a moving experience for me. I wish every Rotarian could see this. On Monday, I visited a very remote village with Rescina to examine a request to set up a damn and pipe system to bring water down to the village; as their old water supply only pumps murky water now. I will save this story for a presentation. I don't think an email can do it justice! P.S. As I learn more about the water projects, I will definitely send more information about them, because I am amazed that so many communities here are going without clean water, but I am running late tonight, staying true to "Fiji Time," so that will be in future emails! John
