Fiji LDS College Awards & Graduation

This is a bit late (like 2 months! 😬) but better late than never.

Like any school in America, the college had an awards assembly (not a night event) and of course Graduation.  The only real difference is that these kids go to school a year longer--13 years.  Many of the senior boys look like they’re grown men.  In my mind I’m saying, “How old is he?”  One of the reasons for that is the Fijian people look older than Americans.  Very few baby faces with these kids.  And the other reason could be that some of them really are 20 years old because the schools have a retention policy.  I know students in the Primary school that have been held back twice.  So, by the time they’ll graduate, they could easily be 20 years old. 

Awards assembly was just as any other school.  Parents all come and take lots of pictures.  Each award is announced individually and someone “prestigious” presents the award.  In this case, mostly a stake president or someone in a stake presidency.  Once during the assembly, they asked “Elder Roper” to present the awards and the teacher that was retiring also present awards.  There were 2 top athlete awards, a female athlete and a male athlete.  These awards were 3 feet tall.  At first, I thought they got to keep that award, but found out later that their name is engraved on it and it stays at the school.  They also gave a top academic award which was a nice trophy to 2 students. The DUX award, which is the top graduating academic student, was presented at graduation.  It went to a Chinese girl who had come to the school 4 years ago with very little English.  She worked hard and got the DUX, kind of like the valedictorian.  She was a cute girl.  She mentioned also in her speech that she had been baptized the weekend before and what a difference the gospel has made in her life.  I think the coveted award though was the Zion Award. It is an award that goes to the top 2 Seminary Students, one male and one female.  I don’t know what the credentials are for this.  They receive a nice set of scriptures and a plague. 

Awards Assembly was in the morning.  Then each grade level was served lunch.  All the students had participated in killing the laying hens from the “farm” (part of the learning experience) and the teachers and parents had prepared them for the students. In the afternoon was graduation.  Elder Hoopes,  one of the temple missionaries, had been asked to be the guest speaker.  He and his sweet wife, Jane, were very honored.  Before graduation they had a welcoming ceremony for them in the Buré.  We had never been to a welcoming ceremony, so we were invited to attend.  A group of young men and a couple of teachers performed the traditional Fijian Ceremony.  The Hoopes were presented with a whale tooth, that they return during the ceremony.  They sing some songs to them and recited some ceremonial things, all in Fijian.   The singing was phenomenal, which was to be expected.  Many of the young men got quite emotional.  It was very impressive.  I really wanted to take more pictures but felt like it wasn’t appropriate. 

Then it was graduation time.  They had the pomp and circumstance just as any graduation, even the traditional march.  They each wore the same graduation gowns and caps we see in America.  But each wore a sash which had been sewn by Sister Blackburn, the former TVET missionary that went home in October, and many parents and a couple of teachers.  Each sash had the last name of the student sewn onto it.  Each student also wore a Fijian lei or candy lei according to their family’s desire.  I hadn’t realized but Elder Hoopes knew many of the students who attend the temple regularly to do baptisms for the dead.  When he started his speech, I realized that and it all made sense why he would be honored to speak and the students would be interested in him as well.  After the graduation, there was a large spread of “refreshments” for guests of honor, finger sandwiches, cakes, vegetables and sliced fruit.  Unfortunately, the Hoopes had to hurriedly leave as they needed to be to the temple as a session was just beginning.

Here are a few of the awards given.  They had different people hand out the awards--Primary Principal, Stake President, ITEP Missionary, Retiring Teacher...

This is Albert Sun.  He always wears his long white socks.  He is from China.

Outstanding female athlete

Outstanding Male Athlete

I don't remember his award but I think it was an athletic award.

This is Laisa from our Korovou Branch.  She has to travel over an hour to get to school every morning.  I think she got an award for her work with the beehives.  

These two got the top seminary student male & female.  I think it is called the Zion Award.

They get a new set of leather bond scriptures.

And they had to give a speech.

Traditional Welcoming Ceremony for Elder Hoopes who was the guest speaker for Graduation.

Notice the woven mat on the floor.  Most homes have these mats.  They are smooth and soft and very durable.

Marching in....

The Class of 2019.

This is a traditional Tongan Wrap.  It is woven from a special grass.

I don't remember her name, but here she is getting her diploma.  BUT then at the end....

She was announced as the Valedictorian. When they announced her name, one of the other girls ran up to her and gave her her salusalu (Fijian Lei).  I thought it was a sweet act of charity.  She was so short she could hardly see over the top of the podium until they found a stool for her to stand on. 

 

 

Party Time!

MAKING HISTORY

Fiji LDS Church College opened dormitories last week. Many of the church schools in the other countries in the South Pacific have dormitories.  Fiji never has until this year. They have been building them for the past year or so and now the dormitories are complete. Well at least, mostly complete.  The landscape is not in and there are a few other little details that need attention, but for the most part, they are finished.  The students that will be living in them arrived on Wednesday.  These students are year 11, 12 or 13.  They are from the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and a few from the other islands of Fiji.  There are 20 boys and 32 girls.  We toured the dormitory before they came.  The first scheduled group arrived just before 3:00 last Wednesday.  But, unfortunately, we got there too late and missed seeing their excited faces and the welcoming singing by the teachers and principal.  I was sad to have missed it.  But there were 2 groups coming in and the second group came in at 9:00.  We made it in time to see them drive in, unload their suitcases and walk into the lobby where all of our welcoming faces were quietly embracing this new group of students and tenants.

After the 3:00 group arrived, they fed them and performed a couple of songs and dances for them.  Then they took them off to see their rooms and maybe do some unpacking.  The kids were excited but seemed to be in a bit of a daze.   When the remaining students came at 9:00, they walked in looking a little bit dazed as well.  The 3:00 students were all lined up before them to welcome them in.  Again, they were fed.  Introduced to the dorm parents and administration.  They were sung to and then split boys & girls and taken to find their dorms.  We left around 11:00 and were told that the administration that was there didn’t get home until almost 1:00.  What a long day for them but what an awarding and fulfilling day that they have been looking forward to for months!

There are two sets of dorm parents.  I have been so impressed by them. They are organized and enthusiastic and have strong testimonies of the gospel and a positive attitude about their positions and the students they are working with.  The rules are pretty strict but I guess that is to be expected.  The husband of the first couple is over the boys.  His wife is not allowed to enter the boy's dorm area.  The wife of the other couple is over the girls.  Also, her husband is not allowed to enter the girl's dorm area.  Which totally makes sense.  I found out this week that both women help the girls and both men help the boys but only the head dorm mother or father is paid.  They are both relatively young with only small children in their families. They each have a 2 bedroom apartment fully furnished just off the dining area at the entrances of the girl's or boy's dorm depending which one they are over.  They both have educational experiences but neither have been dorm parents before.   

Many of these new students come from very poor circumstances where they’re happy to get one meal a day and their own corner to sleep in at night.  Here, they have their own bed, a closet, shower and private toilet, a washing machine to clean their clothes and three full meals a day.  I really can’t imagine how they are feeling.  Some of the students were at a church school in Samoa.  Unfortunately. they weren’t always accepted there and may have had a bad experience.  I definitely hope the Fijian students will welcome them with open arms.  For sure these first few days, they have been treated like long last cousins.

 There are about 10 students from the LDS College that volunteered to be mentors for the new dorm students.  They were there to welcome them, sing to them, show them their rooms and be their friends.  These first few days, the mentors have gone with them on field trips to see the city and to go shopping.  They have shown them around the campus and played games with them.  What great charitable service we have seen coming from these students at FLDS Church College.  It has made me proud to be here. 

This is a study area.  I think this is the boy's side but either way they look identical.

Four students to a room.  All bedding is provided.

3 washing machines for 32 girls could prove to be tricky!  😳

Dining Area.  Kitchen to the right and serving area.  All meals are brought in by a catering company.

The first group being fed.

One of the mentors performing a dance.  You can see construction workers in the back still working on things.

 

Singing a song.

The evening group arrives!

Some of our wonderful mentors. 

Shopping Adventures.

I have pictures of the construction and the outside of the dorms but my photo app is being really weird and I can't seem to get them on my blog.  Oh how technology and I have a LOVE - HATE relationship!