80 Happy Kids!

Yesterday, a local man drifted by our boat and introduced himself...  Not an uncommon experience in the friendly islands of Fiji...

When we asked him where the closest local school was, his eyes lit up and with genuine pride he told us it was "just there" pointing to the shore a few hundred meters from where we were anchored....

We told him that we would like to visit and he assured us that would be OK...

This morning we loaded the dinghy and visited the Ucunivatu Primary school who serves 12 preschoolers and 68 children in grades 1 - 8....  We met the principal and he and the other two teachers called an impromptu assembly where I was given a chance to speak to the children and then give each of them a pencil case...

What a treat to see these lovely children enjoying the chance to learn...

Here is a few short videos of our time with the children...

And here are some pictures taken while we were visiting:

More schools soon!

Thank You, United Church Observer Magazine!

A special THANK YOU to Sheima Benembarek, who wrote a lovely article about our work with kids through our Right to Write ministry....
http://www.ucobserver.org/faith/2017/06/wind_backs/

First Stop in Fiji - Nanuya Island

We visited a small village on Nanuya Island today. It is Sunday so school is closed so we went to the houses. The kids here are so friendly "Bula Bula" everywhere ! ( that is their hello greeting) It is 4 hours by fast ( expensive) ferry to the mainland from here. The tourists mostly come by seaplane or private boat like us.
https://www.gofundme.com/right-to-write-ministry-fund

More Pencil Cases !

We had some very lovely Fijian ladies sew us more pencil cases to fill with the supplies for the children. We now have over 500 ready to go for kids in the Lau Island Group of Fiji. Most of their islands are only accessible by boat. They get few visitors. Cyclone Winston last year devastated these areas and any and all donations are welcome.

https://www.gofundme.com/right-to-write-ministry-fund

In Fiji

We are in Fiji now. Last year Fiji was devastated by a category five hurricane named Winston. The outer islands are still recovering and in need.  We are having some more pencil cases made here in Latouka by locals. We will fill them with our supplies bought in New Zealand.
We are also bringing food supplies and fishing supplies to help out.
The Lau group of islands where we are headed has very few visitors. As we start our third year at sea we are now visiting some very remote places that are only accessible by boat. Supply ships visit some of these places maybe twice a year. Other than that we will be the only people they see.
We will come back to the main island here in Fiji to restock again a couple times more in our six months here. After which we will head north to some of the least visited countries on the planet, the Gilbert islands and the Marshall Islan. For comparison less than 500 people visit the Marshall Islands yearly, Hawaii gets 8300000 yes that is over 8 million !
We have started a go fund me page to try to raise funds to restock as needed. Every little bit helps ! Thank you and please share our page with others !

https://www.gofundme.com/right-to-write-ministry-fund

Donate to help us !

Getting Ready for Fiji

The children here in New Zealand are on their way back to school after summer holidays.  We have taken advantage of a bunch of back to school specials to restock enough school supplies for 700-1000 children.  We are loading the boat now...

We have spent quite a bit to make this happen so are inviting our friends and family to help us out.  Donations can be made by PayPal here on our Right to Write page or can be sent to our daughter in Cambridge.  If you are willing to help, please either use the "Donate" button on this page or email me so I can give you our daughter's mailing address in Canada. Thank you all...

Kyle and Shelley
revkyleb@gmail.com

Tonga 3

We are out of supplies....  We have now delivered almost everything we had on our boat and have helped many children...  I have to say, it feel pretty good.

We delivered the last of our supplies to children in schools on the Island of Nukalufa.  This is the Capital of Tonga, but there is still significant need.  We visited some more schools and the people seemed happy with our gifts...

We will be re-stocking when we get to New Zealand!