Friends Of Fiji Heart Foundation

The 47-doctor team that was in Fiji from 20-31 October,2010 successfully completed 39 surgeries.They inserted seventeen(17) pacemakers and the rest involved complex heart surgeries.Foundation trustee Deepak Singh said they were very happy with their mission this year."In the five years of our mission to Fiji we have performed 138 surgeries. These surgeries have had an impact on not only the individuals themselves but also on those around them," said Mr. Singh.He thanked their sponsors Fiji Water, the Ministry of Health, Air Pacific, Air New Zealand and the Rotary Club for their commitment to saving lives in Fiji."People have been given an extension to their lives for free. It will be hard leaving Fiji but we are hoping to be back in the next 11 months," he said.

Cardiologists will return in eight months to review this year's patients.The doctors left our shores while a heart-doctor and three intensive-care nurses remained to keep an eye on those recovering. ICU nurses David Graham and Christine Armstrong have been on this mission in previous years and they are still amazed at how quickly local patients recover."They basically come out of surgery and after a few hours the ventilator is removed and then a few more hours they are up and about. It really is amazing. We love coming to Fiji because of this," said Mr Graham."Fijian people are grasping this opportunity and we hope to come back and help them because they help themselves afterwards. Just amazing," said Ms Armstrong.Fiji Water donated $200,000 to help the heart specialists from New Zealand to give free heart surgeries to locals.

Bucalevu Primary School in Ra celebrated the completion of its newest classroom block, which is a welcome addition to students.The new block consists of two classrooms that ensure the safety and promote a conducive educational and social environment for students.The construction was partially funded by contributions from the villagers who are mainly subsistence farmers with the Fiji Water Foundation donating $28,000 of the total project cost .Construction of the new block began in the third quarter of 2009 and was completed by October this year. The project was overseen by the school committee and the the teachers.

 Previously, the five teachers for the 140 students have had to handle the the burden of extra pupils and whilst the Ministry of Education had allocated an additional teacher to the school,the school was not able to accommodate an extra staff due to the lack of classrooms.

The event was opened by the Fiji Water Foundation Manager - Ms Fane Niumataiwalu and attended by the school committee, Bucalevu villagers and a representative from the Ministry of Education."Undertaking a project such as the building of a new classroom to facilitate learning for the children of Bucalevu Village and the surrounding area, can only benefit your children" she said."I would like to take this opportunity thank the school committee and the teachers for a great initiative"

Give Clean Water flew in a team to Fiji to install water filters in Navosa.They had been working with the Western Division Health Department who had identified this area as an area of high need due to recent Typhoid outbreaks.The project consisted of three phases (1) initial data gathering where they visited homes, talked to the families about the water filters and gathered biographical data; (2) installation of the filter and educational component; (3) follow ups where each family receives at least one visit from a GCW representative after the installation of the filter to verify proper use and function of the filter.

The team arrived on the 16th and installed about 300 filters in the Nubuyanitu, Korolevu, Nukuilau, Draiba & Keiyasi villages between then and the 22nd. They also had volunteers from FIJI Water on the Friday 19th at Nuku-i-Lau and Fiji Water and Neptune Suva on the 20th in Keiyasi, in which they installed 57 in Nuku-i-Lau and 78 in Keiyasi.

The remaining filters were installed the following week.Prior to the service week, their local Give Clean Water field team were working with volunteers to survey the areas where they would be installing filters, meeting with potential recipients and gathering volunteers to participate with the installations.Funding from the Fiji Water Foundation of FJD$60,000 has gone directly towards the water filters, materials and costs for installation of the filters.There were 608 families in the Navosa area in need of water filters.

Lack of early education in Mulomulo, a small yet vibrant sugar cane community in the interior of Nadi, has been a concern for parents in the area. Located approximately 12 kilometers from Nadi Back Road, Mulomulo is serviced by carriers which is the fastest mode of transport costing $15 one way while bus fare costs $1.50 - school children included.After many years of knocking on doors for funding, the Mulomulo Muslim Primary School committee’s dream of setting up a kindergarten finally became a reality.

The Fiji Water Foundation gave the school committee $15,500 which not only started the project  two years ago but kick-started the project in 2009 and also motivated parents in the area to see that the plan was attainable.After years of sacrifice and waiting, they managed to raise more money to fund a $25,000 school building for the tiny tots.

The school, situated among the canefields in Mulomulo, has a total school roll of 140 students from Class one to eight.They have 10 teachers who share the school’s four quarters.For a rural-based school such as Mulomulo, setbacks at times are boundless.These range from water cuts to delayed school arrears, lack of school materials and students lack of interest in learning because of financial constraints.According to Mr Begg, an Executive board member ,their students are from the nearby cane farming communities such as Tovatova, Yavuna Village located in the foothills of the Nausori Highland and Mulomulo.They are located more than a mile apart so distance itself is a problem their students have to live with everyday.The school was established in 1965 and a run by a committee made up of farmers from the surrounding communities.Despite being a Muslim school, the majority of students are Fijians.School statistics show that more than 80 per cent are Fijians.


The project was completed in April this year with the commitment by the  Master Lalesh Sharma,who took over from Mr Rahiman,who has been the visionary behind this project, with the help of the teachers and the school committee and Board.The school was fortunate to be posted Mrs Losalini Naqarase ,a graduate teacher who through her experience and knowledge formed a Parents and Teachers Association(PTA) ,which has been operating effectively since it's inception.Of the thirty six kindergarten (36)students, thirty two (32) graduated with the remaining to complete 2011 as they were too young.

Fiji Water Foundation Manager, Ms Fane Niumataiwalu was honoured to be the special guest and to officially open the kindergarten which co-incided with the graduation ceremony echoed the words of the well-known statesman- Nelson Mendela, who once said, "Education is the great engine to personal development.It is through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor,that the son of a mineworker can become the head of the mine,that the child of a farm worker can become the president of a great nation.” She commended the parents,teachers,schoom committee and the the school board for their perserverence despite many changes.In addition,the Fiji Water Foundation donated a 2000L tank which is now piped to the kindergarten toilet.