Goulburn Rotarians help renovate community hall in Fiji

Thirteen Rotarians, mostly from Goulburn, but also Canberra, Ginninderra and Tumbarrumba Clubs, renovated a community hall in the village of Vatukarasa on the Coral Coast of Viti Levu, Fiji. The village is located near the town of Sigatoka.

The project, from September 26 to October 10, had its genesis in 2006 when a team from the Goulburn Mulwaree Rotary Club (now amalgamated as Goulburn Rotary Club) renovated the village church.

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In 2019, Club member, Grant Pearce, passed through the village on his way on holiday and noted the hall was in bad repair from a leaking roof and other matters. I confirmed this later the same year when my wife and I went to Fiji on holiday.

Due to Covid 19's intervention and amalgamation of the three Rotary Clubs in Goulburn, it took some time to raise funds and assemble a team to do the work. This was achieved this year with residual funds from the old Goulburn Mulwaree Club, the Goulburn, Canberra Club and Ginninderra clubs as well as private individuals and a grant from Rotary District 9705. We were very grateful for the supply of tools courtesy of Jonathon Tabner, the manager of Blackwoods in Canberra.

The work included replacement of the interior fibro board ceiling, which had water damage, as well as the exterior corrugated iron roof, which had rusted and leaked rain water, with newer Colorbond roofing. The outside toilets were also replaced and plumbing fixed ,as well as construction of a new doorway, outside steps and hand rails and painting the hall and toilets' interior.

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The expertise for the project came from Ted Moore who was in overall charge, Dennis Hogan who controlled the heavy roof work, ably assisted by Hamish Campbell, Jack Cunningham and Andy Mitchell. Ted carried out the electrical and plumbing work, ably assisted by Jonathon, Jack Cunningham and Bill Wattam.

The work was carried out under the aegis of the Rotary Club of Nadi, whose president is Rameshwar Rau, the headmaster of a school outside Nadi. Bruce and Colleen Wright constructed bench tables for children's use while building renovations occurred. Overall, it was a well-balanced team with all the skills required to complete the work successfully.

The work was ably assisted by village men, some of whom learned new skills from our building team of Ted Moore and Dennis Hogan. The village women also helped us by providing lunch each day.

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The project was an excellent practical exercise in cultural exchange and firm bonds of friendship were made, not only personally but between Fijians and Australians generally.

Culture in Fiji is centred around village life, especially their hall and church. They have a strong family and religious ethic from which Australians could learn a lot. Tourism is Fiji's main income and anyone who visits the resorts knows that most of the staff identify with a particular village.

The team members were:

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