Bula vinaka (Warm Greetings in Fijian),
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I sincerely hope this message finds you well.
I would like to thank you for advertising the fund raising events for Parkes Fijian Association.
My wife, Suliana and I came to Fiji on Tuesday 5th April to attend a funeral.
My wife's youngest brother was called to rest after a short illness.
After the funeral and all the cultural ceremonies we decided to visit Nasautoka District School.
We visited the school and held meetings with the school staff and management.
The staff would like to repair the main school block and get the students back to familiar surroundings.
As it is, when the rain falls, which it did everyday. the students have to move desks to a dry place as the building leaks.
A composite class is using a temporary tent, UNICEF gave them and with the tropical climate we are facing we could get sunshine and rain in one day.
The school carpenter gave us a list of materials needed on April 12 and we sourced two quotations from the hardware suppliers.
We decided to purchased the materials from Vinod Patel which was far better than the other one.
We paid for the materials through the funds raised in Parkes.
There is a shortage of building materials in Fiji, hopefully the Nasautoka District school will receive their materials next week.
The Parkes Rotary club has donated 10 laptops, when they rebuild their IT room we will then install these laptops.
It has been eight weeks after the cyclone strike, so far no government assistance has been received yet.
The school staff mentioned that they are getting fed up with people coming to take measurement and disturbed them but no help or any indication when it will arrive.
They are so grateful to the people of Parkes.
When we visited the school we mentioned that we come from Parkes and they would not know where Parkes is.
The head teacher then mentioned to the staff that Parkes Christian School visited them on a mission trip in 2015.
They then realised where the assistance is coming from.
Most of the school building and staff quarters were partly destroyed, three school buildings were beyond repair.
The funds raised in Parkes were used to rebuild the main school block.
When the building is repaired it will free up the church and the tent.
The Parkes Fijians Associations would like to express its sincere thanks to all who have contributed to this worthy cause.
My church pastor always mentioned ‘We cannot assist the whole of Fiji but can change someone's life’... by getting their school building back in operation.
I will be formally writing to the donors to thank them for their kindness.
Funds raised:
Fijian Night by Parkes Leagues Club A$3,600.00
Cake Drive by Parkes Stationary (Marty and Greg) A$1,280.00
Parkes Community Church A$3,500.00.
Parkes Rotary Club 10 Laptops.
We still have used clothes that have been donated to us to send to the village.
We will do this in the near future.
This will be an ongoing project, even though we have visited the school and have paid for the building materials.
We will be working with them in order to complete that project.
Parkes Fijians Association will still receive donations and other item to be donated to Nasautoka village.
It can be dropped at 176-180 Back Trundle Road or call Elijah 0452 125 395.
Ilaitia (Elijah) Naqau (who is now back in Parkes).
