Sewaid Update for Fiji
Alacoque provided the following report on her project in Fiji:
On 5th September I flew to Suva. On Thursday 6th I attended the Rotary club of Suva meeting & with PDG 9920 Malini Raghwan drove up and Tina & her Days for Girls team RAWCS ER17-2018-19 project 22- 2006-07 for the Presentation Day at the Homes for Home. It was through Malini during her year as DG we became involved with the Homes for Hope . On Friday 7th September with 4 members of the Rotary Club of Suva plus Milika Wata-Marshall a current AG and member of the Rotary Club of Lautoka , the Days for Girls team we did a large distribution to some disadvantaged ladies and girls in a village outside of Suva. The majority of these girls were immigrants from Kiribati but like the Fijians they speak English.
Saturday 8th we went by coach to Nadi, and joined Gay Grillmeier , Sunday 9th September I picked up the Budget hire car and Tina , Lyn , Gay & I drove to Lautoka where we had a meeting with Kiji Louey from the Veisemati group in Ba. also present was Milika Wata-Marshall RC Lautoka
Monday Tina & Lyn returned home , Gay & I drove to Ba. For the next 4 days we stayed at a fairly basic 2 bedroom rented accommodation. We presented the 2 sewing machines ( 1 donated by you) and the second one together with numerous sewing accessories purchased with the $400 donation from our Rotary E-Club of Greater Sydney. I also purchased additional sewing accessories & fabric together with an iron & ironing board for the group . Gay conducted sewing classes , my role was as usual co-coordinating everything and assisting where possible. Gay inspected the Veisemati Team Ba making Days for Girls sewing kits to make sure they are being to the correct specification. There was an average of 14-15 ladies present each of the days. There were a few new ladies who had never used a sewing machine before, Gay conducted basic as well as advanced classes. She demonstrated how to cut out and sew a fabric backpack. ( say no to plastic campaign ) She also conducted lessons on hand sewing , as a number of ladies from the villages have no personal sewing machines. The Group meets in a hall attached to the Christ the King Catholic Church Ba. the Parish Priest Fr. Niland Iman is a great supporter of the Women’s group, and has been promoting the back pack for sale which will raise funds for the group.
The Veisemati Team still has way to go consolidating , they meet for sewing 2 days a week. They are in the process of establishing their bank account. They are being supported and assisted enthusiastically by PP and current 9920 AG Milika Wata-Marshall of the Rotary Club of Lautoka.
