Third (and Final) Solar Cooker Installation and
Training in Kubulau District Primary School in Bua, Vanua Levu in FIJI ISLANDS by Shikha Raturi

 

Photo: Panoramic view of Kubulau District Primary School

This trip was the one I was most worried
about as the logistics were so complex. We were to travel from the
island of Viti Levu (where the team is based), to Vanua Levu (where the solar cookers
were to be installed). It was good that we had already carried out two
installations which added to the confidence of the team yet the apprehension
prevailed until the end of day one. The team met on 11 September
at hotel Northpole to start off the two day long project. Prior to this, one
team left Suva early morning on 10 September with the three boxes
of solar cookers loaded in the car to catch a ship from
Natovi Bay which is about 1.5 hours drive from Suva.

The ship journey took four hours to reach Nabouwalu Wharf. From Nabouwalu Wharf, it took another three hours to reach Labasa town, making
it a day long journey – this is quite a common means of transportation for many
people especially if one has plenty of luggage to carry between Suva and Labasa.
On the other hand the second team flew directly from Suva to Labasa with the
last flight on 10 September. SI Labasa President accompanied the
team on day one whilst the enthusiastic Labasa Soroptimists joined on day two.

On 11 September, the team
started from Labasa to Kubulau District Primary School at 6 a.m. reaching the school by 10.30a.m. It was a one hour beautiful scenic and winding drive from Labasa followed by another three hours of
bumpy and scenic ride in the remote parts of Vanua Levu.

 

Photo: Lush green vegetation turned greener as we got more remote

 

Photo: Crossing the river and wondering if we are heading in the right direction

 

 

Photo: Beautiful views must be captured and we’d figure out later whether we travelling in the right direction or not!

 

 

 Photo: Finally we arrive at Kubulau District Primary School

The
school has a boarding house that caters to the children of the families from
three surrounding villages. The parents from each village take turns to cook
each week. As we reached our location we were greeted by the school administration and
parent committee. Soon the team split into two with one team taking charge of
installation and the other spending time with children finding out about their understanding of solar energy and its uses. As expected, we noted a dependency on firewood
for cooking.

 

Photo: A cooking stove makes use of firewood – the poor ventilation is evident in the photograph

 

Photo:: Managing cooking can be a chore and a health hazard

 

Photo: Cooking on four stoves one by one

The team as usual started with the
installation set-up the moment we arrived, whilst explaining to the community
about the various aspects of it. It was great to see the enthusiasm amongst the
community members and soon the number of helping hands increased, speeding up
the whole installation process. We were all pleasantly surprised. From
students to teachers through to parents, all lent a helping hand.

 

Photo: Getting ready for the solar installation

 

 

Photo: Assembling the parabolic frame of the solar cooker

 

 

Photo: Hands on experience for senior students in the Kubulau District Primary School

 The students demonstrated their
understanding of solar energy use before and after the solar cooker
demonstration. Prior to the demonstration, the students showed their understanding of the use of solar energy for drying of clothes, solar lights (as this school was
given solar lights under a French funded project carried out by University of
the South Pacific academic,  however they also gave drying of kava, sea-slugs and pandanus
leaves as additional uses. After the demonstration, all the children
drew solar cookers with a pot of food cooking in it. The teacher in the school was
our champion who was first briefed on all aspects of the solar cooker and
renewable energy. He was instrumental in translating awareness sessions in
Fijian to help children understand better.

 

Photo: Students busy demonstrating their understanding of solar energy use

 

Photo: One student showing his drawing – solar energy used for drying clothes and pandanus leaves before the solar cooker demonstration

 

Photo: Another student shows his drawing – solar energy used for cooking after the solar cooker demonstration

 

Photo: An informal awareness session on uses of renewable energy with students

On day two, the team was accompanied by
Labasa Soroptimists. Their enthusiasm was evident by the fact
that some members husbands also joined us in the solar cooker launch ceremony.
The Ministry of Education in Labasa was supportive of our project from the day
we first made contact with them right up until the launch. The Divisional Education Officer Northern (DEON) Mr. Sumiran D. Pratap and his team were present and eager to see how the solar cookers worked and they
were given a briefing by our Energy Advisor Dr. Atul Raturi. The DEON
was very thankful to SI for their support to the community and he appreciated
our efforts to assist in the remote communities.

 

 

Photo: Project Advisor, Dr. Atul Raturi explains how solar cookers work to Divisional Education Officer Northern, Mr. Sumiran D. Pratap, his team and the school teacher

Soon all three cookers were ready and so
were Labasa Soroptimists, after having organized their banner and the plaque for
the launching ceremony. The senior most member and Immediate Past
President (SI Labasa) Summat Prasad with other members, were pleased and busy
trying to understand how the community lives and how the solar cooker would work
and then they started with the basics of cooking cassava in the cooker.

 

Photo IPP (Labasa) Summit Prasad puts cassava in the pot being watched by the newly inducted Soroptimist Sheetal Charan Suya and President Pushpa Singh smiling back.

It was first time for all Labasa Soroptimists to have come this far into a
remote community and they were pleased with their clubs involvement in this
important project. The husbands and Ministry of  Education officials were all proudly taking
photos ensuring they captured every moment.

 

Photo: The cooking and excitement being captured by the many mobile cameras around. 

As is the case with
community projects, ‘seeing is believing’ – indeed this was the case for solar
cooker’s test here. The group of men who had been helping with assembling the solar
cooker worked silently through day one and two cheered loudly as they saw the water
start to boil. "It works! Its not a toy!!” For our RE advisor this was his favourite moment throughout the two days!

It was incredible that this project
brought one school alumnus back to the school. The Education Officer from
Savusavu who was attending the event is an alumunus of this school and as he had
learned of the project, he joined us from Savusavu and bonded with his
old school community over lunch.

 

 
Photo: Education officials (one is Alumnus) and school community bonding over lunch

The cook was very pleased and came dressed
in her beautiful sulu-chamba with shell necklace and pandanus fan which
demanded a “must capture” moment as she happily agreed to be our brand ambassador
for Vanua Levu.

 

Photo: Our brand ambassador from Vanua Levu readily obliged us with a shot,
vinaka!

The questionnaires given out to establish a
baseline status of the community revealed dependence on firewood mainly with
some kerosene usage; this reaffirms this community’s need for solar cookers. The
children were able to demonstrate their enhanced understanding of the uses of solar
energy for cooking. Things
have drastically improved in this area over the two years,  compared  to our
previous visit to this village in 2013 – in terms of road condition and internet access.
Fiji is doing well in terms of internet penetration with mobile companies
receivers established as far as this village school, however it can only work if the
electronic devices are charged; electricity is still small diesel generator
based, or small solar systems based. Just like the second solar cooker
installation site, this time round I was able to make use of internet on my
mobile phone to tweet and telecast live on periscope as we carried
out the work throughout the two days. This project too enabled great
partnerships between various stakeholders within the district.

Soroptimists in
Fiji are indeed thankful to the SI Presidential Appeal and Soroptimists around the
world for their contribution, as this project will improve livelihoods in these
remote parts of Fiji. Once again the project is instrumental in also providing
Labasa Soroptimists an opportunity to come this far out to a community for the
very first time. The launch of the third and final lot of solar cookers gives us
a sense of relief, pride and satisfaction. After the signing of MoU and
unveiling of plaque, it was time for ALL to happily pose for a group photo.

 

 

Photo: All come together to pose for a group photograph with the solar cooker

During this project, Soroptimists decided
to induct their potential member, Mrs. Sheetal Charan Surya after the launch of
the solar cookers in the village school. It was great to have two
significant events of SI Labasa happen in one day. As the Extension Coordinator
(NZ and Pacific) and the Technical coordinator for ‘Solar Cooker Project Fiji’,
I am thrilled that the third and final installation was marked with two proud
achievements (solar cooker installation and training as well as induction of a
new member) for SI Labasa. I also take the opportunity to thank my husband Atul
for his enormous support in terms of providing renewable energy expertise for
the project, as well as helping with logistics and above all helping to make it a “fun”
project.

 

 

  

Photo: Newly inducted member Mrs Sheetal Charan together with Soroptimists of Fiji