The Aopo Primary School in Savai’i is the recipient of a renovated library courtesy of mobile phone company Digicel Samoa.

The official handing over of the completed school library was witnessed by members of the School Committee, Digicel Samoa Chairman Pepe Christian Fruean and employees of the company.

A church minister of Aopo cut the ribbon on Thursday to officially open the library which was renovated by Digicel Samoa at a cost of $12,000. 

The official opening of the school facility was livestreamed on Digicel Samoa’s official Facebook page.

A member of the Aopo Committee, Faaulusau Simi Laulua, initially made a submission to the mobile phone company raising concerns about the children’s literacy rate and the need for them to improve. 

Pepe added that many proposals are submitted to the company every year, but Faaulusau was able to explain in detail why Aopo’s school needed Digicel Samoa’s assistance, and they accepted. 

The group Helping Hands also donated books to the recently opened library, considering that the learning centre could be open to village children in a bid to improve literacy rates within the community. 

The $12,000 funding from the mobile phone company covered the costs of bookcases, padlocks, desks and chairs, drawer filing cabinets, PVC carpet, paint, louvre blades, ceiling fans, lights and labor. 

An Aopo Committee spokesperson, who spoke through the Digicel Samoa Facebook livestream on Thursday, thanked the Digicel Samoa Chairman and his workers for making their dreams come true. 

"This library will be a great help to the children of Aopo and whoever needs to use the library is most welcome to stop by,” the Committee spokesperson said. 

“Students will make use of this library as a remembrance of your great company Digicel Samoa.”

Aopo villagers are confident that the library will assist to develop their children’s reading and writing skills in English and is a resource not only for the children of Aopo but others who also need access to the library.

A moto of Digicel Samoa is “better together with community” which the company believes it achieved through its support for the Aopo Primary School library.