Location
Saraswati Primary School – Manoca Campus Manoca, Nausori, Fiji
Community Description
Manoca is a semi-rural community near Nausori Township on the south-eastern side of Fiji’s main island. The community is primarily comprised of recent migrant agricultural workers from the country’s outer islands. The general population faces issues of poverty stemming from low education levels and unemployment coupled with rapid and steep inflation.
The majority of schools in Fiji operate as partnerships between community-based or religious organizations and the Ministry of Education. Each school has an operations committee that is required to manage funds, maintain the buildings and provide a percentage of teachers’ salaries. Government funding is barely enough to cover the expenses per pupil and leaves the committee at a deficit after maintenance costs.
In mid-2009, the Ministry of Education changed their grant allocation and distribution policies which led to a 50% decrease in funding for the two primary schools that Shree Saraswati Ramayan Mandali (SSRM) operates. Since these cuts were instituted in the middle of the academic year, the committee was unable to adjust existing financial obligations.
Several capital improvement projects have been postponed due to a lack of funds, compromising the learning environment and overall well-being of the students.
Saraswati Primary School – Manoca is among the least expensive schools in the neighboring areas of greater Nausori. The management committee aims to make education accessible to impoverished and transitional communities by keeping school fees low.
Project Description
This project is to complete the installation of a 50,000-liter water tank at a primary school. The project was begun, but ran into financial difficulties, and remains unfinished.
Earlier in the year, the school management committee broke ground on a water tank intended to address the problem of unclean and inconsistent water supply at the school. Due to the budget cuts, the project was shelved indefinitely.
The water tank has been purchased and the cement foundation built. Appropriate Project funding will be used to complete the piping and construction. In addition, broken and rusty taps will be replaced.
Project Impact
This project will bring potable water to 300 students and faculty at the primary school for the next ten years.
Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Keondra Bills
Comments
This project completes a major endeavor by the community and school to bring a reliable source of clean water to the students. For a relatively small amount of money, a non-functional system will be brought into service without delay. This fits precisely within our objective of completing high-impact projects.
Dollar Amount of Project
$500.00
Donations Collected to Date
$500.00
Dollar Amount Needed
$0.00 – This project has been fully funded, through the generosity of The Soneva SLOW LIFE Trust as a part of their Clean Water Projects initiative.
We encourage others to continue to donate using the Donate button below, and we will notify Peace Corps Volunteer Keondra Bills of your donation. Additional funds will be used to fund the next project by Keondra and/or those of her counterpart PCVs in Fiji.
This project has been finished. To read about the conclusion of the project, CLICK HERE.