Lead up to the project

 
It is October 2008 for several weeks Scott Balson has been in an exchange of emails with Rod Summerton from Ivanhoe Grammar School in Victoria (Australia) regarding the proposed upgrade of the Namuamua School Library. Summerton visited Namuamua in March 2008 thanks to the FijiBure website and as a result took on the task of the library upgrade. He is a member of the international organisation Round Square which are looking at backing the project. But before they will back the project they need answers on a number of fundamental questions such as accommodation costs and numbers of students in the school.

For weeks Summerton has been trying to get answers by email and post from the school's headmaster but to no avail. 

An email arrives in Scott's computer.

The project is close to being shelved as time is running out. A request is made by Scott to Summerton to supply all the questions he wants answered and a commitment is made to fly to Fiji with the specific intent of getting the answers so that the project can proceed. Within a day the questions are received from Summerton and a few days later Scott is on a plane to Fiji. The cost of this exercise to FijiBure is about Au$1,500 but the importance of a new library for the school at Namuamua is a far more valuable outcome.

The photos taken during Scott's whistle stop information gathering tour can be seen at this link.

On his return Scott sends a lengthy email back to Summerton with the answers and the stalled project proceeds with some sixteen teachers from around Australia travelling to Fiji in April 2009 to participate in the upgrade of the Namuamua library project. Up to the last few days email exchanges between Scott and Summerton take place - underlying FijiBure's critical role as gateway to the village. FijiBure participate by being at the library upgrade on the basis that their input will add value to the project largely undertaken by Round Square.

Return to Namuamua Library upgrade page