Student Ambassadors Continue Service Project in Fiji
Students at Nadroga Navosa Provincial High School, located on the South
Pacific island of Fiji, study in conditions that most American students
could hardly imagine. The school is located in the middle of a tropical
rainforest; the children have no source of clean water; and there is a
shortage of even the most basic of supplies, including school books,
paper, notebooks, pens and pencils.
In 2004, a People to People Student Ambassador delegation from the
Chicago area visited Fiji and the Nadroga Navosa Provincial High School.
Student Ambassadors were astonished by the state of the school. When
they returned to the U.S., several students from the delegation
collaborated to form Project Bula, an organization dedicated to
improving conditions for the students at Nadroga Navosa.
Prior to their departure for Fiji in July 2006, a delegation from the
Chester County-area in Pennsylvania held a meeting and resolved to
follow in the tradition of Project Bula. They decided that every Student
Ambassador would bring an extra suitcase on the journey, full of school
supplies, to give to the students at Nadroga Navosa.
One of the students, Kimberly Burnick, offered to visit some of the
local office supply stores to see if they would be willing to donate any
materials. When she made the proposal to Office Depot, they told her
they would be happy to help and invited her to come back the next day to
pick of the supplies. Expecting a reasonably generous donation of
notebooks, pens, and other fundamental items, Kimberly returned the next
day shocked to find a carload of supplies waiting for her, including two
globes, five hi-tech calculators, scissors, paper, writing utensils, and
much more. The donation was so large that Kimberly didn’t have nearly
enough room in her suitcase and had to ask a number of other Student
Ambassadors to use their suitcases as well.
The
Chester County-area delegation helped support the mission of People to
People: to spread understanding and respect among the youth of nations
all over the globe. Before she left, Kimberly spoke for the entire
delegation when she stated, “I really look forward to meeting the Fijian
students face-to-face and being able to give them all of these school
supplies. It will be such a positive and moving experience and we are so
thankful for the generosity shown by Office Depot.”
Read more about the beginning
of Project Bula
