Lalomanu Primary School

In February of 2019 I took over $1000 to Lalomanu Primary School to refurbish their school library, named after young Clea Salavert.

Clea was tragically killed by the tsunami which targeted Lalomanu and surrouning districts in 2009. Ten years on, the village has recovered its infrastructure and the primary school continues to thrive as a vital education centre for the Aleipata district — centred on the coast of Samoa’s main island Upolu.

With the money raised from here and with extremely generous donations from the Geelong Rotary Club — myself and a peace core volunteer stationed at this lovely primary school — worked for the entire month of February to renovate the library space. This involved sorting through masses of unfiltered books donated over the years, many of which were too difficult for the level of reading and age group of the students at the school. All the bookshelves were cleaned, sanded and repainted as were all the interior walls. 

The result became a beautiful library space for the kids, more reminiscent of how the library looked in its original form when it was inaugurated in 2011 by Clea’s family.

Moving forward, with money left over from my initial donations I will begin to set up an organic garden at the school in April. With the help of family who are accredited organic producers, the students and their families, we will put together a small garden (to begin with) to grow fresh fruit and vegetables. We will also being growing fruit trees that will prosper fresh and abundant produce in year to come. This will contribute to the school canteen and new efforts to implement and raise awareness for healthy eating and sustainability throughout all schools and villages. 

Later in the year I hope to build a small playground for the school that will be entirely open for the students and their families to use at their own leisure. This is where ongoing donations will be channelled towards and, again, any small contribution can make a tremendous and long lasting change for these beautiful and vibrant young kids!