A VISIT by Central Tilba teacher Laura McHarg to a Fijian school while on holiday earlier this year has resulted in nine cubic metres of books being shipped to schools in the Pacific, through Narooma Rotary Club.
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“I saw that many schools in Fiji were crying out for books for kids to read, both primary and secondary,” McHarg said.
“We had some books at Central Tilba School that were surplus to our requirements, but how to get these books to Fiji… I ended up contacting the local Rotary Club.”
Former Narooma Rotary president Charmaine White said she then contacted Ranfurley Book Aid in Sydney, a charity supported by Rotary Clubs across NSW.
“This organisation sorts donated books and ships them to appropriate schools in Papua New Guinea and the south-west Pacific, areas where English is often a second or third language,” Ms White said.
“I dropped Central Tilba’s books off at the Ranfurley store at Lilyfield which was just bulging with books.
“Central Tilba’s shipment to Fiji was possible because through Laura we had a contact in Fiji to take delivery of the books from the docks and ensure they were delivered to the appropriate schools.”
It soon became apparent to Ms White when talking with Ranfurley’s Barry Moscrop that Narooma Rotary could help move more books to schools where they would be needed using the contacts of several Narooma Rotarians.
The end result is an additional eight cubic metres of books were shipped from the Ranfurley store to schools in Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Tonga, the Cook Islands and New Caledonia.
“It's amazing to think all that has resulted from Laura’s phone call,” White said.
