The largest project that was completed since our previous visit was the provision of sanitation facilities at Ahmadiyya School on the island of Vanua Levu.

Our journey to Ahmadiyya School started at 4 am, when we had to find someone to help us transport us and our 6 boxes of resources to Suva bus stand. Fortunately, this one of the rare mornings when it was not actually raining on the Suva side of Viti Levu and we were able to stand at the roadside until a willing cab driver came along. That only took a few seconds, even at this hour of the day!

At the bus stand we waited for the bus to arrive, and, quite amazingly, all the passengers and their vast amount of luggage were squeezed in, and we headed off towards Natovi. The aisle was piled high with sacks of taro, boxes of rice, newly woven mats to give as presents for all kinds of family occasions, twisted yaqona roots wrapped in newspaper to present to the chief of the village and various completely unrecognisable objects, so getting on and off the bus entailed a certain level of mountaineering skill!

After a couple of hours the road deteriorated into a rough and very bumpy track. By now there were children running barefoot over the stony track to reach school and they all waved as we passed. Finally we reached Natovi wharf and spotted our boat just arriving with passengers from Ovalau.

The bus drove on to the ferry, but everything had to be offloaded, as there would be a different bus to collect passengers at the other end. Our boxes were stacked on a pallet at the side and we went upstairs to sit on the deck. The weather was warm and sunny, and the 4-hour crossing to Nabouwalu soon passed. On the way we saw shoals of flying fish and then dolphins appeared and were leaping playfully all around us!

When the boat docked at Nabouwalu there were people and vehicles everywhere – no thought for health and safety! We were met by the school manager and he insisted on driving on to the boat to collect our boxes with no apparent regard for the people milling around and the vehicles trying to drive off – and then had to carry out a 3-point turn in the middle of all this commotion!

There followed another 2-3 hour journey on extremely bumpy tracks until we finally reached Batiri and saw the school. By now the only thought in our minds was to see the sanitation block – in fact not just to see it, but to make use of it! We were both able to confirm that everything was in working order! When we spoke to the school’s head teacher, he said that there had been a noticeable improvement in the health of the students since the installation of the sanitation block. They were also much happier and able to concentrate better on their studies.

The next day we had another very bumpy ride to reach Naduri – this time it was not quite so long (about an hour) and was mostly along the coast. Naduri itself is situated right by the sea. In fact, as we arrived, we spotted the villagers on the beach. They had been out overnight (as they do most nights) diving to catch beche-de-mer (sea cucumbers), which they were then boiling in huge drums over wood fires. After this they would be dried and weighed, and then sold to the Chinese food and medicine market. This is apparently the village’s only source of income.

We were taken through the village to the kindergarten that the charity has funded and spent a whole session with the children. They sang for us and invited us to join in with their activities. The children really love to come and because the building is positioned in the heart of the village, there is a very strong community feel about the whole project. We were able to donate boxes of pre-school resources to help them and they were thrilled with all the books, toys, games and art/craft materials.

We provided resources (mostly books and stationery) at all the schools where we have had projects carried out, but also at many more schools on the main island and on the islands of Ovalau and Moturiki. We also visited several children’s homes and hospitals with supplies of basic but essential items.