SUMMARY OF ‘CHILDREN OF FIJI’ REGISTERED CHARITY
Children of Fiji is a charity that is registered both in the UK (No. 1082331) and in Fiji (No. 630). Its declared aim is to advance education, health and welfare, and to relieve poverty of children in Fiji. It has no political or religious affiliation and strives to help all children in need, irrespective of their gender, ability, ethnic origin, or religious belief.
The charity was set up by us and is still run by just the two of us. This means that, in liaison with relevant government departments and other charity organisations, we can personally assess and prioritise needs, deliver materials and provide direct feedback to our donors.
As part of our on-going programme we provide basic materials for schools and kindergartens, such as relevant reading and reference material, stationery, games and equipment. Each year we have supplied materials to about 40 schools, not only on the main island of Viti Levu, but also on other islands including Vanua Levu, Taveuni, Kadavu, Ono, Ovalau, Mali, Malake, the Mamanuca and Yasawa Islands. We are currently trying to organise visits to the very remote Lau group. We visit both urban and rural schools and have been to several schools in the interior of the islands and other not easily accessible schools. We also regularly provide resources for Dilkusha Children’s Home, St Christopher’s Children’s Home, The Boys’ Centre, the Girls Home, Special Schools (Fiji School for the Blind, Frank Hilton, Sunshine Special School in Lautoka and the Savusavu School for the handicapped) and the children’s departments of the Colonial War Memorial Hospital in Suva, Rakiraki, Sigatoka and Lautoka Hospitals as well as helping children of the families in the squatter settlements
Each year we transport around 3 tons of goods (approximately £8,000 worth of new materials and large quantities of quality second hand materials). These are sent in advance of our own visit and on our arrival we collect them from the sea/air ports and then distribute them from our Suva base. We would like to acknowledge the free transport of these goods from the UK given by Qantas Airlines, Confreight Shipping UK and Bankline Shipping UK.
In addition to our on-going commitments to supply basic resources, we also carry out a number of larger projects. For example we have funded the building and equipping of the Sunny Smiles kindergarten at Bainivalu Primary School, Nakasi. We equipped the science laboratory at Nakasi High School and produced and equipped quiet activity areas in St Christopher’s Children’s Home. We have provided Navitilevu District School with a fibreglass boat / outboard motor and 30 lifejackets to enable the safe transport of children between their villages and school (instead of them having to swim across a bay!), as well as giving rapid access to medical aid for the children in the event of an emergency. Our biggest project to date is to fund the construction of a vehicular bridge across the river at Qelemumu Primary School near Labasa on the island of Vanua Levu.. Previously, children had to wade through a very dangerous river to get to school. In the rainy season the river became too high to cross and the children sometimes missed several weeks of school. Several children drowned. The children now have a safe crossing and can now even get to the Labasa Secondary School by truck. We have also provided this school with fresh water facilities. We have provided similar water storage facilities at Mali Island District School, Ratua Ilaisa Memorial School, Nalovo Sangam School and Lomawai Secondary School.
This year has seen the completion of our second bridge. This footbridge is at Kaleli near Lautoka on the main island. It links two settlements across a creek and means that 500 children now have safe access to school instead of having to wade through a dangerous flooded creek. We have provided fresh water at a further 3 schools, furniture for a school and outside play facilities at 6 kindergartens. We have also constructed and equipped a library at Vatuwaqa School, near the capital. We provided Braille and other tactile resources for the Fiji School for the Blind.
Our current projects include the construction of a new girls dormitory at Navitilevu School (a project jointly funded by ‘Children of Fiji’ and the school) and the provision of freshwater at Navolau school and village. This latter school and village are in a particularly dry area of the island and water shortages mean that the school often has to close. Surveys have been carried out and a safe source of water has been found higher in the mountain about 9km away from the school. This project will pipe the water from the source to storage facilities above the school. Water can then be provided for the school (and village) by a gravity feed. This project (costing around £35,000) is to be funded in a three way split between the Fiji government, Children of Fiji and the village itself.
Future projects include more fresh water provision, the construction of a new kindergarten and provision of some basic equipment for the children’s hospital (infusion pumps etc)
We have responded to disasters and send out emergency supplies in response to cyclones etc. This year we were actually on hand to directly aid victims of flash flooding which destroyed many settlements and made many families homeless as well as causing loss of life.
In all of our projects we work in liaison with ‘Save the Children’ the Red Cross, UNICEF and Fiji Government Departments such as Education, Social Services, Health, Housing and Squatter Resettlement.. We are also involved with delicate issues such as child abuse/exploitation.
As we have already indicated, Children of Fiji is run by just the two of us. We both took early retirement from teaching to run the charity full time apart from 2 months each year when we mark A level examinations to earn the money for our own transport to Fiji and accommodation – we never use charity funds for this.
Most
of our fund-raising is done in the UK through a variety of events including
coffee mornings, sales, sponsored walks, concerts, auctions, quizes and talks,
as well as through various grant awarding bodies. We publicise our work as much
as possible and have had much exposure in the media (both in the UK and in
Fiji). We spend a lot of our time raising awareness through school assemblies
and through talks to groups such as the scout and guide groups, WI,
Mothers’ Union, Probus etc. In 2003 we were BBC South Community Award
Winners
We would be very happy to talk to any group about the activities and achievements of the charity.