We were exposed to a little bit of paradise at our Friday luncheon.  Gene Calvert not only brought us his club’s flag, but a slideshow that gave us insight into what a small club of eighteen members can do for its community.  Savusavu is an island in Fiji located northeast of New Zealand with a population of 5000 people.  The racial make up is currently 40% Indian, 50% Fijian, and only 10% Caucasian from U.S., Australia and Great Britain.  The club, chartered fifteen years ago, has several on going projects.  Their primary focus at this time is to manufacture, sell and distribute wooden tables and chairs to schools as part of a government-mandated requirement that kindergarten schools must have these items for students.

The Savusavu Rotary is also involved in youth training of carpentry, tile mosaic, restaurant services, and tourism training.  The club is providing clean water with help from the Peace Corp to its Nagigi Skyjuice Project and the Vunalagi School Water Supply project.  Their mission is to dig, cap and filter, and pipe the water to a village for consumption.

Gene says they have been part of the Rotary wheelchair distribution program for some time (the club has a 20-foot container full of wheelchairs to distribute as needed).  He is also very proud of the Savusavu Rotary for installing solar heat that provided hot water to the hospital when the old system broke down.

Sounds like a great place to live, laugh and enjoy “Service above Self”.

Pat Dolphin