My Account
Warkworth Rotary Club members have supplied and installed water tanks, ablution blocks and toilets for a remote school on Epi Island in Vanuatu.
The project took on a greater sense of urgency after Cyclone Pam in March 2015, which left Port Quimi School’s 100 pupils with no sanitation.
Warkworth Rotarian Jon Nicholson says the project, which was completed at the end of October, was the culmination of months of hard work.
“The toilets were very run down, but after Cyclone Pam they were completely destroyed,” Jon says.
“The devastation was so severe the children didn’t even have a bush to urinate behind and the school was in danger of closing down. In the end, the children were given a bucket and hid behind some bits of old roofing.”
The ablution blocks were designed and built at Mahurangi Sheet Metals and Engineering in Warkworth. Former owner Peter Johns had repaired school roofs in Vanuatu with Jon Nicholson two years ago, but the ablutions blocks were the pair’s biggest project to date.
“There’s no power on the island so I had to design the ablution and toilet blocks in kit set form,” Peter says.
“Each kit weighed around a tonne. We transported them to the island by boat and the locals carried all the materials by hand to the school.”
Jon and Peter constructed two shower blocks and two toilet blocks. The blocks are linked to the school dormitories with a new nine metre-long roofed area. It provides group shelter and additional water catchment.
“Originally we were going to use the school’s stand pipe water supply, but it was taken out by the cyclone,” Peter says.
“We shipped over several water tanks, which amounted to around 40,000 litres capacity. Solar-powered pumps operate the showers and the greywater is used for irrigation.”
The Warkworth Rotary Club secured grants from the Rotary World Fund and the Harold Thomas Trust, worth about $73,000. More donations were received from Rotarians in Warkworth, Port Vila and Norfolk Island.
The school landscaped the area, decorated the ablutions blocks and held a blessing and opening ceremony.
“It was very emotional; Charlie the school’s headmaster was overwhelmed. We were very pleased to have made a positive difference, but that is what Rotary is all about.”
