Union College Gift
to Nakauvadra High School

(see photos)
(email with Union students)

In May 2000 the Union College Terms Abroad Program made a gift of two computers to Nakauvadra High School in Rakiraki. Nakauvadra is a school founded to offer education opportunities to those rural students, mostly ethnic Fijians, who would not otherwise be able to attend high school.

Union College Home Page comes in over the internet

One aim of the gift was to establish internet capability to a site that would not otherwise have the resources. A telephone line was installed into one of the classrooms for the internet connection via modem. The hope is that Nakauvadra High School students will be able to communicate regularly via email with Union College students participating in the anthropology program. Those students on the 1999 Term Abroad in Fiji will be able to communicate with their friends at Nakauvadra as well. As part of their general curriculum Nakauvadra students are expected to devote time to learning the essentials of traditional Fijian culture and history. Those students already have knowledge and insight that would greatly benefit our anthropology students back at Union. In addition, the donation of two computers will help Nakauvadra's fledgling vocational program in computer skills. To date that program has been short of resources.

The whale's tooth presented to Union College Terms Abroad

On the day of the computers' installation, the Nakauvadra School Committee sponsored a traditional Fijian ceremony to express their thanks to Union College and to say farewell to us upon our own departure from Fiji (see photos). The ceremony included the traditional sevusevu, or presentation of kava, along with a gift of a whale's tooth, paramount traditional Fijian valuable, to Union College. Because of laws restricting the transport of whale's teeth out of Fiji, that gift remains in the school committee's hands as property of the Union College Terms Abroad Program. Following the formal presentations, a traditional meke dance was performed by Nakauvadra High School students, and then everyone sat down to a formal feast.

The Photo Album of this event contains captions idenitfying participants and explaining the features of the ceremony.