Bole believes media has power to make positive changes

The head teacher of Nabukaluka District School, Aporosa Bole, believes that the media has the power to bring about positive changes.

The story of his determination to get internet connectivity so he could print worksheets was highlighted by the Fiji Sun.

Following that a network service provider is now in the process of confirming a deal with the landowning unit to set up a network tower.

Article highlight challenges

Mr Bole said if his story had not been published by the Fiji Sun, the three villages in the area would not see any work done towards getting connectivity and improving mobile reception.

Villagers of Nabukaluka in the heart of Naitasiri, for now, climb a hill to speak to loved ones or for students to be able to connect to the internet.

The hill is the only location close to the village where telephone and data connectivity is working.

Mr Bola said media had the power to change the lives of the people.

To get to the hill, villagers have to cross the Waidina River and it is not always safe to do this as rain at times increases the strength of the current.

Although official work has not started and will require approvals from landowning units and follow up paperwork, there is optimism within the village.

Nabukaluka village

Mr Bole said that the village had been visited by the network service providers engineers and survey team was a great relief.

Since the beginning of school under the new normal, he has been constantly crossing the Waidina River and climbing the hill by various teachers, as most are not at school.

His second trip includes a walk to three different villages and delivering the worksheets to the Turaga-ni-Koros so they can be distributed to the students and returning with the completed worksheets.

Pandemic

With COVID-19 impacting students all over Fiji, children in Nabukaluka and surrounding villages are perhaps the unluckiest among those in Fiji.

For a student in Suva, it is a simple thing to do as they click on links to get to classes.But this is not the case here.

Mr Bola said for him, the most important was to ensure all children in his district had access to education so when they grow up they can make better decisions.

The villagers are now counting down to the days when they can be connected to the world.