Students who attend Lousala School on the remote island of Tanna can now focus on learning without worrying about the weather elements, thanks to the efforts of hard-working local rotarians.
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Since Cyclone Pam devastated Vanuatu Islands in March 2015, the children have been attending school lessons in tents provided by UNICEF.
Steve Roberts and Ian Jackson from the Rotary Club of Laurieton recently travelled to the area to check up on how the rebuilding of schools and hospitals has progressed since a group last visited in 2017.
Steve and Ian are part of the Rotary Australia World Community Service (RAWCS).
“In 2017 members of the group gutted the school to construct two classrooms and a library,” Ian said.
The students were able to move into the newly built classrooms in February 2018.
Ian said rotarians plan to visit again in July to finish the guttering at the school and complete the library.
The rotarians took gifts for the school children including books, crayons and other resources.
“They were absolutely thrilled, it was like Christmas for them,” Ian said.
“It was very rewarding, we really provide so little but they are so very thankful.”
The island doesn’t have any electricity or running water.
“It’s still in a very primitive state but people are happy with what they’ve got to get by,” Ian said.
During future trips, Ian said they would like to work on educating the public about how to use tools to conduct repairs themselves.
“We take as much equipment as we can over there to teach them how to use it,” he said.
