School Project

School Project

Purpose
Our aim is during the time we are sailing in the Louisiades in 2008 to disseminate resources we have collected to as many Elementary Schools as possible.

Background
On our cruise to the Louisiades in 2007 we made it a priority to visit as many schools as possible to give the resources we had managed to collect prior to the trip. We had heard from other yachties how under-resourced schools were but we had to see this with our own eyes to believe it. Paper and pencils are precious and every scrap of paper is used, with exercise books being handed out by the page. We saw very few books and no teaching texts. They have no access to packaging, therefore no cardboard etc to make things with. Students work often has to be strung up across bamboo beams, because there are palm woven walls with few pin boards for this purpose. We saw no educational posters. And as there is no electricity, there are no computers. We often heard stories of teachers having to teach all age groups with 40 in their class and not being paid for 6 months. It seems that the Louisiades are so far from the mainland and government that they are almost forgotten about.

Most schools in these islands have between 20 to 100 students, depending on the size of the villages and the island itself, with the majority being very small. Children go to these schools from approx. 8 to 11 years. Parents have to pay a substantial annual fee, otherwise the children cannot go to school. What tends to happen is, that boys often have preferential treatment, especially the eldest. Families are usually large, around six children, but the infant mortality rate is high. Children can continue to high school which means going away to school on another island for the week and coming home on the weekend, which explains the lack of teenagers we encountered during the week.

Sadly even when the students have completed high school many can not find a job and return to their villages. This can be seen by parents as education failing them and acts as a discouragement to invest their hard to earn 'kina' in all their children. Small earnings are limited to backyard copra production, which is very labour intensive and diving for 'beche de mer' during the season. Statistics show that the average family lives on less than one US $ per day.

Elementary schools (our Primary schools) teach the children English, in which they quickly become proficient. We were surprised by the high calibre of spoken English and their eagerness to learn and to practise. A few who are lucky to be educated do make it to the mainland for employment and can be successful. Our aim is to help increase the success rate of their efforts.

Gigila School Project 2010

The Idea

When Chris and Paul Taylor were sailing in The Louisiades in 2008 they spent several weeks on Gigila Island helping out with the project of building a Trading Boat, "Toloyot". ( See Banana Boat Project) While Paul was working with the team teaching new boat building skills to some of the islanders, Chris was visiting the local school with the wives of the other yachties.

The school had holes in the wall where dogs and pigs wandered in at will. It was on this dirt/sand floor that the children sat and worked and played on during the day. There was nowhere to put books, nowhere solid to place a sheet of paper. No tables, chairs, shelves or drawers. Chris and Paul decided to do what they could to do something about this. A new school had been on the wish list for the islanders for a long time. So when they returned home they talked to their friends and the project started to take shape.

Details of the proposed Gigila Island School

The Gigila school building will be 16 metres X 5 metres with a 2.4 metre wide verandah running the full length of one side facing the beach 1.2 metres off the ground. It will be chamferboard clad and shutters instead of windows. Doors are to be decided by teachers for appropriate placing. Iron roof and timber floors will ensure the children will be dry and off the ground. The roof gable ends will have large overhangs that will protect the open ends from the worst of weather but provide flow through ventilation.

*All materials for construction will be purchased from local mainland suppliers.

* A water tank with down pipes and gutters to the roof are to be installed.

*It is estimated that approximately $20.000 Au will need to be raised for materials and transport by sea from Aloutou to Gigila Island.

*Bundaberg builder John kemps who has been the expertise and provider of the materials list is also willing to travel at his own expense to supervise construction.

* It is hoped that the local Gigila Island building gang that was so instrumental to the successful completion of Toloyot will be available to help with building.

We are hoping that Bundaberg West Rotary Club will help with some funding.

John Kemps has already kindly donated the production costs of brochures and posters to highlight our project to people.

Any help that you can give would be greatly appreciated, you can contact me

Paul Taylor, email: insatiable1@dodo.com.au Mobile # 0403 863 508

Donations can be made direct to ANZ Bourbong Street, Bundaberg, Queensland.

BSB # 014515 Acc # 524861266 or Online Acc BSB # 014515 Acc # 901611183

See pictures of the proposed school below:

Teacher Alice and her class at West Bagaman School.

This school is one of the lucky ones with a pin board as it is difficult to pin posters onto bamboo walls, so often, pictures are strung overhead. There was no blackboard in this one room school.

Alice said when it rains heavily the roof leaks all over the schoolwork and the children, so the children have to go home. A new roof is on her wish list!

All these things meant so much to the three schools that we gave to: Gigila School, Pananumara School and West Bagaman School where Alice was thrilled to see us back again. Their government gives meagre resources to schools so if yachties don't give them these things the children suffer.

We women, Cathy on 'Erica', Alex from 'Roxanne 1' Chris on 'Insatiable' and myself, Gina, on 'Caesura' spent many happy mornings at Gigila primary school with Olive the teacher and her class of 20 or so 7 and 8 year olds. The children would rush out to meet us as we walked around the island on the beach to their school and lead us in. We always caused disruptions but Olive seemed not to mind. She had her baby with her and was still breastfeeding. Pigs and dogs and baby children wandered in at will through the holes in the walls.

Alex and Olive on national costume day outside Gigila School

Children sat on the sand and used battered old slates that had lost their blacking. I saw one child do his sums on his mates' back - it was blacker. Watching how well Olive taught with scant resources, was a privilege. There is nowhere to store the books so she takes them home each night. We initiated a 'quiet time' where children read or look at a book for five minutes in silence, but not until they have put back the books carefully, can they talk. Olive appreciated the input of new ideas. We used our technology to work with Olive to produce some resources in Misima language based on their curriculum which when we were there covered 'Traditional customs' 'Medicinal plants' and 'Fire'. The children loved seeing themselves in the photos! After school we would always have children holding our hands in a string across the beach, singing and laughing all the way home.

We were amazed at the excellent spoken English of the islanders, with exceptionally neat writing. One old man told me he learned to read by reading encyclopaedias at night as that was all the reading material the school possessed. His vocabulary is amazing. Often teachers do not get paid for many months. Over half the children have not had their fees paid, many times because their fathers have not been paid for their beche de mer fishing by two big wholesalers who have a duopoly. We have since heard that there is a moratorium on beche de mer fishing for 5 years. Although this is an environmental necessity, it impacts hard on the islanders, making education even more of a luxury.

It is exceedingly difficult for islanders to make money, they are so remote and between themselves have no need for it as they trade. They need kina though to send their children to primary school and to high school. High school costs about one thousand kina a year. This makes it very costly for families with up to six children, which is common. Infant mortality is very high so families have several children with the expectation of some dying.

Often it tends to be the sons who go to school, or just the eldest child. Going on to further studies is rare. Costs are about 3000 kina and upwards per annum.

These are some of the reasons why I wished to help those who cannot have the education they dearly want, and have started the Yachties Foundation.

A major focus of the Foundation is to help improve the educational opportunities of islanders in the Louisiades as well as to provide assistance to community development projects. .

Photographs of School Life.