Posted Oct 9th

We recently had a very lovely post-graduate scholar, Csilla, from the University of South Florida stay with us for a few days. She does research on manta rays & has a website www.mantamemories.org

She came to Fiji to make a presentation on her research at USP (University of the South Pacific) but also brought some school materials with her to donate in a poor school.   She asked if we can direct her to a needy school in the Suva area -–not an easy request as of course most of Fiji’s needier schools are in the interior or in the outer islands. However, our Pacific Outreach trustees told us about Tacirua Primary School that’s on the edge of town & mostly made up of children from nearby settlements.

Susan & Csilla made a trip to the school & had an inspiring time donating toothbrushes & toothpaste, pencils, pens & other items. Csilla wanted to share with the students about manta rays & conservation in general & so drew a picture of a manta ray on the blackboard for all the students to copy. We’re sure all the students will never forget such a special visit!

While visiting the school, we remembered that one of Fiji’s leading electronics companies, Gokal, is having their 30th birthday soon & recently featured an ad in the Fiji Times stating that they will be donating 15 42” flat screen TVs to worthy institutions. After first checking with Gokal that the offer was still available, we went back to the school to get a request letter for one of the TVs as at present they have none at all. Hopefully the school will receive this very soon & perhaps it won’t be long before the students will be able to see manta rays on TV!