Corrections Service donates to 10 families
The Fiji Corrections Service on Monday donated $300 each to 10 spouses of Corrections officers whose jobs were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. There were seven families from around the Central and Southern Divisions, two from the Western Division and one in the Northern Division.
Mother of two, Ulamila Ravidiki, a pastry chef at the Novotel Suva Lami Bay Hotel, said she appreciated the unexpected assistance.
The twenty-six-year-old is married to COA (Corrections Officers Class A) Lino Ravidiki, who works at the National Headquarters Corporate Division.
She had been laid off from work for the past month without any pay and with no guarantee when they would start again. “I really do not know what to say but thank you to the FCS for also remembering us, it has been a tough few weeks mostly because we do not know how long this would go for. This will go towards the family groceries and teaching aid for the children,’’ she said. Tokasa Viniaina, 35, who worked for Peninsula Hotel in Suva, said she was humbled by the kind gesture.
She is the wife of COA Saimoni Vurai, a Duty Officer at the Suva Remand Center. “We have five children and three of them are in school, this money will be put aside for when school starts because now I do not work so we have to plan.”
Commissioner of Corrections Commander Francis Kean said the gesture was a reflection of the values in corrections; family and empathy.