VINAKA, ANNE

It felt like Christmas today. I had a special visitor at school who was delivering special craft and disability equipment from a very special friend from home.

Let me tell you about Anne. I met Anne in 2008 through Yooralla. However, it seems like I've known her for much longer than that. Anne and I have been on many adventures that are mostly centered around bike trails. They have also involved fun runs, smorgasbord picnics, appreciation in the arts and nature and joint disapproval of the double golden arches. Anne and I share a passion for disability advocacy. This is why I'm in Fiji and why Anne must have felt compelled to help out where she could. (I'm sure she'll speak for herself at the conclusion of this post)

Anne had jumped at the opportunity that one of my Yooralla colleagues, Ruchita, would be coming all the way to Suva. Ruchita made it to Suva and all the way to Hilton Special School with Anne's bag of goodies. Thanks to their combined efforts, the children now have scissors, pipecleaners, jumbo coloured pencils (which have already managed to become dirty from excited scribbling), pencil grips and a pile of felt a metre high with needles and thread to go with it. All the special things that make craft so much more fun, but are so hard to come by in Suva.

So, to Anne and Ruchita, a massive "vinaka vakalevu". The photos will come as the children's imaginations run wild.

Where there is good news, there are always challenging issues.

My frustration is beginning to simmer at school. It is all good and well that all this fantastic equipment is now available for use. My challenge now is to ensure that it is used in the correct way: by the children, for the children.

I have found that artwork done in classes are not always completed by children. Rather than allowing the children to use the scissors, an adult will take over and finish everything for them. Making mistakes and exploring different mediums takes far too long, apparently. At best, any artwork found on the walls are probably 10% completed by the children 90% someone else.

I am always asked if I can lend my equipment to another colleague. I am happy to lend it to people as long as a child gets to use it for most of the time. More often than not, the equipment that I lend will not be used by a child, but will be used by an adult to complete artwork on a child's behalf.

So now that I have all these amazing new things, my job is to ensure that it is the children who use it most of the time. They may need assistance and it may take a bit longer, but at least it will be one step closer to being involved, included and not ignored.