By Kite Pareti
Fiona Luth started Fiji Book Drive, a non-profit organisation based in Melbourne, Australia as she wanted to “impact as many people as possible”.
Twelve years later, Fiji Book Drive has donated nearly 300,000 books to 194 schools and kindergartens across Fiji.
The former English teacher had been grieving the loss of her parents, who became the reason for starting something new.
“There’s a thing called post-traumatic growth. Trauma makes us all suffer, but a part of my mind might have known that by helping other people, we actually help ourselves. I’ve always wanted to do something like this [Fiji Book Drive]. I’ve always been drawn to social justice issues,” she said.
“We’ve helped many, many schools,” she added.
Most schools in Kadavu, Taveuni, Naitasiri, Koro, and Cicia have benefited, Luth said. Fiji Book Drive is planning to help more schools in Nadroga and Vanua Levu soon.
“We’re not just a book delivery service. We send a curated library collection to primary schools, high schools and kindergartens in Fiji. And we back that up with literacy boosting discussions on how best to improve literacy in Fiji,” she added.
For example, Luth recalls: “The previous head teacher of Levuka Primary School said to me, ‘Fiona, we really need books on the human body’. So, I wrote that in my notebook. I said, ‘Well, you just have to wait one year’. And then to the volunteers that were packing in the warehouse, I said, ‘Give me books on the human body. We need to give it to this primary school.’ So, we design the impact. That means tailoring it to the needs of the people.”
“If we give them more than a thousand books, they can’t manage it. We have to give them what they can manage. Otherwise, the books aren’t utilised properly. So, we try to hit the sweet spot every time,” she emphasised.
One of Fiji Book Drive’s key missions is to go to the most remote areas because “it’s our strong driving belief that children, no matter the geography or how remote they are, absolutely, should have access to quality reading materials,” said Luth.
This saw the team travel by foot and horse last year to deliver books to Nasauvere Primary School in Naitasiri. “This school, Nasauvere, you have to cross the Wainimala river 26 times to get there. So, you either go by foot or by horse. For myself, crossing a river 26 times, it gets a bit annoying. So, luckily, they
have horses there, and I can ride. There’s no saddle or reins, but these horses seem to know where to go. And so, they’re the kinds of schools that we help,” she said.
She noted: “It’s just unfair that people in remote areas don’t have good books. So we’re seeking as best we can to iron out some of this unfairness so these kids can really achieve [their dreams].
“The former principal of John Dudley High School said to me a couple of years ago, ‘Fiona, you’re not just sending boxes of books, you’re sending boxes of love.’ That was very touching to me. I thought it was a very true statement because there is a whole chain of people, many of whom have never been to Fiji, who love the idea of children having access to quality books,” said Luth.
Thanks to partners such as Australian law firm Clayton Utz and others, Fiji Book Drive has been provided with free warehouse space in Melbourne to store and package the books for delivery.
“We get a lot of donations in kind, which if you added that up in a monetary sense, the cost would be huge. And because we get a lot of free services, it allows us to keep the cost down. I mean to send one shipment of approximately 50,000 books, this is a guesstimate for me, it takes about 500 people, so there’s the people dropping off the books. There’s the people giving the free services. There’s the handling agents. There’s the Fiji side. There are teachers in Fiji. There’s the financial donors. There’s my Board. It’s actually really huge.”
Luth says running Fiji Book Drive has taught her that there’s a huge amount of goodwill in the community. “It really touches my heart that so many of them have never even been to Fiji, and they give up their time. They pack books, they give their money. I think it’s very important for the Fijian people to know that they have many friends in Australia, not just tourists, but people who have never been to Fiji that want to help,” she said.
“To be frank, I could not do this work if I didn’t get the vinakas that I’d get. They are heartfelt vinakas. The respect was shown, whether we’re being garlanded at an awards ceremony, whether we’re being given a bu (coconut juice), whether it’s using anybody’s toilet at remote areas, whether it’s a cup of tea after being caught in a rainstorm. That is the first thing that sticks out to me.”
She reflected: “In Fijian schools, there’s a good sense of discipline. I noticed that. So I really noticed that they have signs saying kindness, respect, walk, don’t run. Like there’s a similar kind of protocol in the schools. I mean, it’s very different from Australian schools. Obviously, Christianity is a key part of the curriculum. Generally speaking, students are respectful to their teachers. I mean, in the urban schools, the classes are very big. I love the children cleaning up the schools. I wish we did that in Australia. I
think, you know, often people in Fiji, they may be apologetic, that they don’t have this or that. But I see them making use of the resources they have.
“I see a lot of love for the children, and I see a lot of teachers really going above and beyond their pay grade; it’s a vocation,” she said.
Local ambassadors
Marie Hilda is one of the five local Fiji Book Drive Ambassadors. A kindergarten teacher at Vunidawa Sanatan Primary School, she has been running a community library in Naluwai, Naitasiri for the past two years.
“We have a small library here. It’s just a small room, and there’s so many books there, but you know, I try my very best to make sure that all the students borrow them. Apart from children, we have a few adult borrowers, like we have some seniors who like to read,” she told Fiji Traveller.
The community library allows borrowers to pick books at their own pace, she said.
Hilda says 135 children joined at the start of the program, and now there’s 60.
“It’s quite challenging because we don’t get the full support of the community. Not everyone is supportive of the program. We have parents who are supportive, few parents whose children come to the book club, they’re very supportive. And thank God, we have the Turaga-ni-Koro, they are behind the project too, which is good in many ways,” she said.
“I tell people that it’s really not the quantity. It’s actually the quality. We’re looking for quality readers,” she said.
“I’ve had some of the students who have actually said to me that when they’re reading books from Australia, it’s like they don’t have to go there,” she said.
Hilda hosts other activities at the community library, including spelling competitions to help the students.
And her message to local parents and teachers to; be more attentive when listening to your children as they read.
