Miracle Baby Shruti - Vodafone Fiji

Caring for the
Environment
Students at Adi Cakobau School testing water
As part of ongoing efforts towards encouraging
environmentally conscious young people, NGO Live
& Learn have continued to conduct teacher and
student training workshops in major districts around
the country.
Graduates of student RiverCare training
Student training conducted in term one of this year
included Secondary Schools in Navua, Suva, Nausori,
Sigatoka, Nadi, Lautoka and Labasa. Through the
workshops, students learnt how to conduct water
quality monitoring, establish waterway projects and
also shared knowledge and information with students
from other schools.
Through the programme, RiverCare members
undertake simple social and environmental research
including water quality monitoring to improve their
understanding of water issues such as pollution.
Live & Learn continue to work hand in hand with the
Ministry of Education’s Curriculum Development
Unit on the implementation of the programme with
the financial assistance from the Vodafone ATH
Foundation to continue to next year (2008).
Another aspect of the
programme, Sandwatch has
been undertaken by schools
with better access to the
coast and students study
the composition of their
beach, the types of activities
that occur and debris and
pollution found on the beach.
Sandwatch students can also
conduct water quality tests of
their marine environment.
Using the theme “We can
make a difference — adopt
a waterway”, the teachers
are taken through student based learning activities
which include water quality monitoring, education
for sustainable development, resource management,
simulation games and project management.
www.vodafone.com.fj/foundation
Good Neighbour lauds
Foundation support
Ask The Good Neighbour International
(TGNI) chairman and founder, the
Reverend Paul Ramswarup about the
Vodafone ATH Foundation and he will
give you a list of reasons as to why
Foundations are the way forward for
corporate organisations in Fiji.
TGNI is a non governmental organisation
officially registered in 2005 but has been
operating for over a decade, helping
and supporting low income earning
communities around Fiji.
The Good Neighbour recently received a
grant of $18,983 from the Vodafone ATH
Foundation to assist in equipping and
building its centres around the country.
“We have been blessed indeed to have
a donor in the form of the Foundation
as it is something that has been set up
locally,” Rev Ramswarup said.
“We have been able to upgrade, build
and equip our five centres in Fiji with
computers to help our volunteer
officers in the field with their work in the
communities that they serve,” he said.
“Basically we help people to help
themselves and help others, that’s what
Good Neighbour is all about.”
While they have yet to advertise or
create awareness of their existence in
Fiji, the work that has been done with the
800 plus people that Good Neighbour
has come to work with has sent out a
fresh and reassuring message to the
community, he added.
“And this is why we are thankful and we
can’t even comprehend how blessed we
are to have a donor like the Vodafone
ATH Foundation.”
“Through their assistance these
communities that we reach out to
are enriched with ways to remain self
sufficient and how to play their part in
building our Fiji to be a better place.”
“I have a thought that if we can create
this ripple effect on the community
through the help of the Foundation
through us and the other NGOs that are
supported by them, Fiji will succeed in
eradicating poverty and educating its
people to use their resources to their
full potential,” he said.
TGNI centres around Fiji that have
benefited from the funding by the
Foundation include their McGregor
Street centre in Suva, Savura, Wailoku
Destiny Home centre, Vunisoco, Namosi
Centre and the Barotu, Ra centre.