For more than 20 years, retired New Gisborne Primary School teacher Prue Dawson has been spearheading a campaign to support vulnerable Fijian children – one suitcase at a time.
Literally – she fills bags with old clothes, text books, stationary and other important early childhood materials and donates them to her contacts on the ground who distribute items to orphanages, schools and homes for domestic abuse survivors.
After living in the Fijian town of Lautoka for three years in the early 2000s and developing a relationship supporting the village of her housekeeper Wati, she came home to Gisborne determined to help address some of the poverty she’d seen, and her school community got right behind her.
“At the end of the year we’d collect all the stationary like pencils, textas… Parents became involved and they’d donate clothes and things their kids had grown out of, as well as books,” Ms Dawson said.
Each year, several school families would be taking holidays in Fiji and would fill their own bags up to donate on the ground.
Before the pandemic, the primary school community decided they would fill a massive shipping container – then COVID-19 hit and they had to figure out another way to empty it.
Bit by bit, items were taken across, as well as 4000 books transported by various Fijian support groups which have helped to set up four new libraries.
“It’s a privilege to help those who are less fortunate than us, because we can,” she said.
“That’s where the families at school have come in, they’ve been really generous with their donations and their willingness to take donations with them when they were holidaying.”
Elsie Lange
