On our trip with Captain Cook Cruises we were offered the chance to visit the Ratu Naivalu Primary School in Fiji. At first we were hesitant. Blonde is always terrified that someone might foist a kid off on her and Brunette raised 4 boys and is SO over her maternal phase. But the trip to the school was linked to other activities we wanted to do so off we went. Predictably it was the highlight of the day and and possibly the trip!
Education is compulsory and free in Fiji. The Ratu Naivalu Primary School in Fiji has children ages 6 through to 13. All of the kids board at the school during the week and the vast majority return home, on boats, from Friday afternoon until Sunday night. Some children live on the island and trek home, a long and strenuous prospect, for the weekends.
It seemed hard for the parents in our group to fathom sending a 6 year old off to boarding school but the geographical logistics basically require it.
All of the children learn the Fijian language, Hindi and English. They identify very strongly with the “level” (grade) they’re in and several of the levels performed song and dance routines for us. (When you look at the pictures you will see that the boys are wearing skirts called sulus and white shirts. The girls are wearing gray dresses.)
They would start the routines looking very serious, soon get the giggles and at the end run away. Basically what we would do if we had to perform for tourists. We enjoyed all of the dances but these two made a lasting impression. Kids dancing at Ratu Naivalu School, Fiji
When the official program ended we were encouraged to mingle with the kids and two little girls quickly claimed us. (They obviously don’t read the blog.) They wanted to hold our hands and show us their school. We have to admit that we were wondering if this was going to part of a ploy to get money from us but it wasn’t at all. These were just little kids thrilled to have visitors to interact with and show off the school they’re proud to attend.
We were taken to their dormitory which is simple but clean and cheerful looking. The younger kids are assigned to the top bunks and some of the bunks have mosquito nets but we never got a clear story on that.
As our new BFFs walked us around they asked how old we are. We told them the truth (but we don’t have to tell you). When Blonde said her age the response was “that’s really old”.
Brunette told them that we were once their ages and went to school too. One of the girls said “Yeah, once upon a time on a hanky you did.” We took that to be a degree of disbelief, although we didn’t understand the role the hanky played in their retort, but it kept us laughing for a long time!
Part of our enthusiastic tour included walking through one of the boys dormitories and the boys above were as aggressive but significantly more charming at seeking attention than Justin Bieber (or insert the celebrity/politician of your choice).
After classes are over each day the older girls are supposed to take care of the younger girls and the boys are sent up a hill behind the school to gather firewood and crops. They grow and harvest a significant amount of the food they consume.
The day we visited they obviously weren’t going to do any of their responsibilities until their audience left. Quite a few of the boys ran to the beach and demonstrated their rope swinging abilities. In the U.S. a bevy of personal injury attorneys would have been lined up licking their lips but things don’t work that way in Fiji.
The majority of the children at the school are from poor families and are really benefitting from the current government’s efforts to improve education. They’re also being taught not to smoke, drink or allow themselves to be abused so the school is taking on a social education role as well.
We agreed with the stances on smoking and abuse but quickly left before any pledge not to use alcohol could be presented. It’s important to know when it’s time to move on!