| Project VEO - Vanuatu Education Outreach
55 twenty-five kilogram boxes of educational material collected and distributed
29 sailing yachts involved in transporting the boxes to the outer islands of Vanuatu
55 Primary and Secondary schools aided throughout the 82 islands of Vanuatu
20 Sponsors who donated ESL books, stationary, educational material and printing
25 Volunteers who made this project happen
2400 text books and reading books already donated and counting
Project VEO was inspired by my experience in Vanuatu a few years back. While there, I took some stationary supplies to a school at Port Resolution on the island of Tanna, and saw how little the teachers have to work with there. It was like offering a drip of water to a desert. Not only are they lacking in stationary supplies but they have very few resources to teach from and have not always received sufficient training.
There are 82 remote islands in Vanuatu, each with their own culture and language. The common language is Bislama, yet they need English to communicate with the rest of the world and progress as a country.
For this reason, Project VEO is focused on collecting and sending donated ESL educational material to the secondary schools, along with children's reading journals, story books, dictionaries and school atlases to the secondary and primary schools.
Thanks to many English schools throughout Auckland I have received donations of over 1700 secondhand ESL text books, with more still arriving.
Donations of around 500 school journals/atlases/childrens storybooks have been received from publishers and stationary suppliers in Auckland.
These books plus additional stationary have been packed into 55 boxes and delivered to the Bay of Islands into the willing hands of sailors heading to Vanuatu who will personally ensure the material gets to the designated school assigned.
I recently spent the month of July sailing with the crew of QOVOP to some remote villages on the islands of Malekula, Ambrym and Efate to personally deliver books and wall maps to the schools that had been flown up to the main city Port Vila by the RNZAF and we were very well received. The teachers were so very grateful for our efforts and the children were so excited to receive new books. Other yachts have also delivered the books and are sending comments and photos which I will continue to post on the gallery below. I am in touch with the Minister of Education in Vanuatu along with various NGO voluntary organizations and have received a list of all the schools on the various islands of Vanuatu.
Spread sheets have been created to ensure the right level and combination of materials got packed into the right box and delivered to the right yacht sailing to the right island.
The logos of all our sponsors can be seen in the photo gallery below, which documents the progress of Project VEO. The sailors involved in the project will continue to supply me with photos and feedback once they have delivered the material to the school, so please return regularly to this page to view updates and images of the projects' arrival in Vanuatu.
Any donations are still welcomed until the end of August 2010, so please get in touch with me. Ideal donations are:
Encyclopedias
Dictionaries
Atlases
Lower level ESL text and workbooks
Children's reading books, school journals, stationary
Thanks to all who have been involved, as without you, this wonderful project would never have eventuated. Warm regards, Rowena Baines
Many thanks to all our sponsors:
The Royal New Zealand Air Force, World Wide School of English, Pearson Publishing, The ICL Business School, NZ Mathematics Centre, Mahobe, MacMillan Publishers, Havaianas, The Campbell Institute, Kiwi English School, AUT, AIS St Helens, Crown English, Random house, Whitcoulls, UNITEC, Dominion English School, The Saltings Estate, Carolina Zugna, Auckland English Academy, Orewa College, EDENZ, The Rotary Club of Waihi, Language Academy, Trans Pacific Marine, Five Star Computers, D & R Digital, Big Colour and Languages International.
And thanks to my volunteers:
Milca, Juba, Manu, Trajano, Steve, Junior, Eduardo, Raphaelle, Anna, Naomi, Ben, Marinella, Shan-Mei, Peter, Marina, Miriam, Adriana, Aloke, Luciana, Keema, Eliot, Kelvin, Kelly, Grant, Seamus, Claudia, Ross and Raluca.
Many thanks to the yachts for transporting our boxes:
QOVOP, Canela, Wasabi, Matajusi, Bicho Vermelho, Atlantia, Sedna, Blue Dawn, Cheyenne, Sea Rover, Kalalau, Crazy Diamond, Szel, Sea Lance, Caminata, Fruity Fruit, Mahurangi, E'eva, Kaori, Kind of Blue, Six String, Koncerto Kat, Najat, Caballero, Lanakai II, Ahu, two World ARC yachts - Voyageur & Destiny and Magic Roundabout.
The information below is for the schools in Vanuatu (written in Bislama)
Vanuatu Edukesen Aotrij
Halo olgeta Skul,
Olgeta bokis ia bambae oli kam olsem ol sapraes long yu. Plis akseptem olsem donesen long skul blong yu wetem fiuja blong olgeta pikinini.
Nem blong mi Rowena Baines, mi nao mi okanaesa blong projek VEO ia. Mi bin kam long Vanuatu faev yia I pas finis mo mi filim koneksen wetem ol gudgudfala man Vanuatu. Mi bin visitim skul long Port Resolution long Tanna mo givim sam stesenari long olgeta olsem ol gif mo lukim olsem I kat bigfala nid I stap long ol risoses blong olgeta tijas oli yusum long klas.
From risen ia mi bin spendem taem blong kolectem sam buk ( samfala niuwan mo samfala sekon han) long olgeta inglis lanwis skul, stesenari saplaea mo olgeta we oli mekem buk long ples ia long New Zealand. Olgeta buk ia oli bin donetem blong yu yusum mo enjoem.
Pante fren oli bin helpem mifala olsem volintia long projek ia blong okanaesem ol meteriol mo bakemap ol bokis ia. Mi bin traem blong saplaem yu wetem olgeta inglis tex buk blong“ Beginners, Pre-Intermediate mo Intermediate level blong ogeta stiuden blong yufala blong oli yusum, be nomata long hemia, hemi no isi blong karem ol stret buk blong save donetem.
Mi hop se bambae yufala I mekem ius long olgeta buk ia. Samfala bokis I kat ol riding buk blong olgeta pikinini mo stori buk blong praemari skul.
Mi hop blong mekem projek ia bakeken nekis yia, so mi wantem tumas sam fidbak long skul blong yu olsem se wanem kaen buk nao yu rili nidim mo se olgeta buk we mifala I sendem Oli stret level nomo o level blong hem I hae tumas. Mi wantem blong save blong mi sendem yu stret infomesen nekis taem.
Mi wandem tumas blong risivim wan leta long yu blong mi save sapos olgeta bokis oli bin Kamtru I gud nomo, mo blong harem lelepet from skul blong yu mo vilij blong yu, blong mi save soem long olgeta sponsas we oli bin donetem olgeta buk mo olgeta volintia we oli givim taem blong olgeta mo enegi blong olgeta. Olgeta I wandem tumas blong save wea nao olgeta buks ia oli kasem. Plis yu putum adres blong yu long leta mo email adres blong yu sapos yu kat, blong yumi save raet bakeken nekis taem.
Mi bin save fulumap 50 bokis, we mi bin sendem wetem ol seling boat long olgeta difren aelan long Vanuatu. Olgeta seling boat ia oli volintia blong karem olgeta bokis ia I kam
daerek long New Zealand long yu, olsem oli wandem helpem ol man Vanuatu tu.
Mifala ino expektem eni samting long yufala be blong talem tankio nomo long olgeta man blong seling bot we oli karem buk blong yufala I kam. Oli wandem tumas blong mitim yufala wetem ol pikinini.
Mi stap hop se wan dei long fiuja bai mi kat Janis blong mitim yu mo hop blong harem bak long yu ino long taem.
Tankio tumas
Rowena Baines, Project VEO / Projek VEO
Email: rowenabaines@gmail.com Telephone/Fon namba: 0064 21 2746688
Address/Adres blong mi: 1210 Sandspit Road, RD2 Warkworth, New Zealand
For more information on this project please contact Rowena Baines
rowenabaines@gmail.com 0064212746688
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