Villagers build Irish Crossing for better access to education for students
IN a bid to ensure students have better access to education, villagers and Youth of Yasawa in Tawake, Cakaudrove constructed a 22foot Irish-crossing from locally available resources.
The village, one of the most far-flung maritime communities located close to the Udu Point in Vanua Levu, has decided to align itself with the Government’s vision to provide better opportunities for students.
The 20 students in the village had to walk for 25 minutes each morning to get to Vatuvula Primary School, which they share with students from the neighbouring village of Nagasauva as it was located on the midpoint between the two communities.
“Prioritising education for our children is not just the work of the parents and Government, but a community effort to ensure they have better opportunities,” Yasawa Village headman, Joseva Vatudei, said.
“Our geographical location has been a hindrance to development, and as a community we work together, with accessible education for our children as a one of our key goals,” Mr Vatudei said.
“This is because we believe and have witnessed that education transforms lives and communities, and it opens door of opportunities for our children.”
On this front, the headman said they were always looking for ways in which they could make learning more accessible, and do as much as they could to provide a more conducive environment for education.
“We noticed that the students would cross four to five crossing before reaching school with the old path, and having to cross using a route in-land, they would often get wet and sometimes slipped on their way to school,” Mr Vatudei said.
“On an afternoon, I noticed that two of them were crossing an estuary after school, and after close investigation we noticed it was a better path for them to cross, and all we needed was a crossing.”
“We did not waste any time, even with no machineries to carry the logs and construct the crossing, it was a challenge we were all too willing to carry out,” he said.
“We have seen how Government continues to invest in education through the budget allocation, free education, free transport and the $200 back to school grant for each student is a testament to their dedication towards this worthy cause.
“As parents, community leaders and members, we must align ourselves to this and persevere on. We must not always depend on Government but to be selfreliant because the Government can only do so much for everyone.”