visit to Vugalei kindergarten
posted March 10th
Fiji recently received a lot of torrential rains, resulting in many of the main towns getting flooded. Our house in Suva is thankfully on high ground, but nevertheless several leaks developed in the roof & we had to put buckets in various spots to catch the heavy dripping…..
Many Fijian villages didn’t fare so well though & experienced flooding inside their homes a few days ago. We got together with our longtime friends & Pacific Outreach trustees, Bai & Analesi, & went up to visit one of the affected areas, carrying with us as many clothes as we could fit in the vehicle.
On the way there we saw how a landslide had taken out one of the electricity poles resulting in the area also being without power for several days. Rain also caused a big fissure in the main access road, bringing further isolation for this part of Fiji.
Arriving at Vugalei, we were shown the watermark of where the floods had reached inside the houses, causing substantial damage. Our meeting place was the kindergarten that our friends recently started; however people came from 8 different villages when they heard that we would be donating clothes.
Despite all the recent suffering, we received a very warm welcome, with
traditional garlands put around our necks & tea to drink. The clothes were sorted into piles for men, women & children & were gratefully received by all.
A big ‘thank you’ to Value City for donating these clothes that we can then pass on to those in need!