Representatives from the shipping firm Swire Shipping and Cabinet Minister Toeolesulusulu Cedric Schuster visited Satapuala Primary School to see how the school was doing and if the company could do more to help.

Alexander Patterson, the Swire Shipping Pacific Islands Regional Manager based in Suva, Fiji said they worked with a group of Anglican and Catholic schools in Sydney who replace their furniture every four or five years.

“After a discussion with them, we found that the furniture was going to the landfill and we thought to get the furniture and donate it to the various schools,” said Mr. Patterson. 

“We supplied the district with three schools worth of furniture and we are here today to actually see it in action. We are seeing that it makes a big difference for the kids and their teachers. We are really honoured that we can do something like that.”

One of the teachers at the Satapuala Primary School, Makerite Seleue said that because of the new school furniture, a lot of her students are excited to attend school and her classes.

“I teach Year Four and my class is one of the classes that received some of the furniture. It really does help a lot with the students,” she said.

“I have about 44 students and having them all sit on the tables and chairs helps them with their writing. The first day they saw the desks, they were so excited and it makes them want to come to school every day and they look forward to sitting on their new tables.”

Mr. Patterson revealed the company plans to keep this program going in order to help other primary schools with school furniture as well.

“For the future, we expect to do two to three shipments every year. Hopefully, we can cover three to four schools every year and slowly keep this program going,” he said.

“We are a shipping company so this is something easier for us to do. This is our contribution and the Anglican and Catholic schools give us their furniture, we pack it with the help of a company called Vanguard Logistics, to get it here to Samoa.

“We are over the moon just to be making a difference in a small way and we want to continue doing that as much as we can.”

Minister Toeolesulusulu is the Minister for Natural Resources and Environment and the local M.P. for the Aana Alofi No. 3 constituency.