Katova High School Project | Other

Katova High School Project

Phone: +61 412 058 848

Add/Update information

Reviews

Tags

• Other
• Community

23.01.2022 Our friends in the village always make us feel so welcome. Thanks to the school children who waited for several hours dressed and ready waiting for us to arrive.

23.01.2022 Last news from the team before they leave the village VERY early on Monday morning to meet the Uta Princess at 6 at Kilokaka Village. The classroom block is complete and there will be a handover ceremony tomorrow at 2pm. The team were blessed by a very special farewell ceremony last night and will be sad to leave the warm hospitality they have experienced on this and every trip to Samasodu. The footings for four staff houses have been laid and are ready for the villages in the Katova District to build over the next few months. There are plenty of logs left up on the ridge next to the houses ready to be milled for the houses. There are also logs down near the footings of the next classroom block. The team will enjoy some down time tomorrow. Praise God for His blessings on the work of the team's hands.

23.01.2022 This is an amazing building! It is exciting to think of how lives will be enriched in these rooms.

20.01.2022 The team have landed in Brisbane. Sydney team members are now boarding their flight. WA member boards his flight in an hour and the Tasmanian guys will overnight in Brisbane and return home tomorrow. Rod.

19.01.2022 Planning for the 2020 is well underway and registration is now open to participants. The Katova High School Project will be undertaken in the village of Samasodu which is on the island of Santa Isabel in the Solomon Islands. The primary objectives of this S.W.I.M. project are; Trip 1: Thursday 18th of June, 2020 to Thursday 2nd of July, 2020 Team members can continue with Trip 2 at no additional cost if they wish.... Complete classroom block Earthmoving and site preparation Up to 12 Coordinated and led by Jack Van Bemmel Trip 2: Thursday 2nd of July, 2020 to Thursday 16th of July, 2020 Construct classroom block Earthmoving and site preparation Children’s Program Medical Program Ministry Development Program Up to 35 participants Coordinated and led by Rod Peet Other aspects of the trip may include; Maintenance of existing infrastructure including water supply system, painting, repairs. We will be flying out of Brisbane International airport direct to Honiara International Airport. Connecting flights for participants from around Australia will be organised by the planning team. From Honiara we will have to travel around 24 hours by boat to Samasodu Village. Specific details are; Cost : $1850 (inc airfares/meals/accommodation/travel insurance/transfers/excess baggage/sat phone hire and phone calls/team celebration at a Honiara Resort) Your own spending money is extra. Discounts are available for those who organise fund raising activities. Contact Rod Peet on 0412058848 or [email protected] if you would like more information.

19.01.2022 On our final day in the village we were able to hand over the keys to the classroom to the chairman of the Katova High School committee. This is their building for their future. We had speaches, we had prayer, but we also had fun. This is the conclusion of the ceremony and there was much laughter. This building will now be able to be used as accomodation for members of the Katova villages coming to the school site to complete work on the staff houses. It was truly a privelege to work alongside the Katova people to construct this building.

18.01.2022 Hi Friends. We have received some updates from the High School site. Timber is being milled and work has commenced on the staff houses by the Katova Villages. The road from Baleo (the old logging camp) to the school site has been cleared. Planning is well underway for our consecutive projects in June and July. The dates for the projects are below. There are still some spots left on each team for people who are interested in participating; Trip 1: Tuesday 16th of June, 2020 ...to Thursday 2nd of July, 2020 Trip 2: Thursday 2nd of July, 2020 to Thursday 16th of July, 2020 Please contact Rod Peet on [email protected] if you are interested.

17.01.2022 The team is just about to arrive at Point Cruz Wharf in Honiara. The day started around 5am with a very wet and choppy journey on small boats to Kilokaka. This took over 2 hours. We boarded the Uta Princes and have had a pleasant 18 hour journey to Honiara. The team will rest at the SWIM base over the next few days. There are also a variety of meetings planned with senior Government representatives to continue planning for the next stage of the project. Rod.

15.01.2022 This is the school site on our final day. We started with thick jungle and now we have the first buildings. The first classroom is complete and work has commenced on the second classroom block. 4 staff houses will be built in the next 6 months. The Solomon Islands Government has allocated SBD2.9 million dollars to the project. Money from the Japanese Grass Roots program has been obtained to build the third classroom block. School is scheduled to commence in 2021 with grade 7/form 1.

15.01.2022 Hi Team and Supporters, Our leadership team met earlier this evening and I’m sure it will come as no surprise to you all to hear that we have had to cancel the projects planned for June/July this year. I am not sure when travel restrictions will be lifted, however, looking forward it is wise to expect that the trip will be postponed to June/July 2021. The leadership team will continue to meet at regular intervals and assess the opportunities ahead as the Corona Virus situatio...n eases. As soon as flights and travel into Honiara resume a couple of our team will go over to Samasodu to inspect the site and check our tools and equipment. A delay of one year could have an impact on the serviceability of these items so we need to ensure that when teams arrive they are resourced with functioning equipment. This is sad for many of us who were looking forward to seeing our friends in Samasodu and Katova. For myself, this will be the first year in the last 10 years that I have not been able to travel to Samasodu. Whilst a year sounds like a long time, it gives everyone the opportunity to make arrangements for the upcoming trip..and I’m sure before we know it we will be onsite completing the next classroom block. In the meantime lets pray that we conquer this virus and can resume life as we knew it. Regards, Rod Peet

14.01.2022 Well done team! Kotava High School project November 2019. You are part of history! In years to come people will look back at the founding teams in appreciation of the work you did. Your work is the start of what will be pinnacle of education in the Solomon Islands. Be proud! Rod.

14.01.2022 Work commenced on the ffirst 4 staff houses that will be built on site. These will be on Greg's Rise. We built a bridge over the water course and also re-aligned the access the road. Water pipe was also run to the location with strong water flow obtained in this elevated position.

14.01.2022 So many blessings to report from Samasodu. There are two excavators working on site - obviously the rescue mission was a success! Hopefully tomorrow they will collect 20 felled logs and drag them to site ready to be milled as timber for the next buildings; just like a trip to Bunnings really! They have made a log bridge across the drainage canal and improved the road up to the top tier of the site by laying gravel. This will assist access to the staff housing. The plan is to... begin working on the staff housing tomorrow as it is expected that the block containing the first two classrooms will be totally finished tomorrow too. This was the main intention of going back over and it is great to see the team has been able to achieve this with three full days to apply themselves to the next building project. The report is that are all well and on track to leave the village on Monday morning. Please continue to keep them in your prayers. See more

13.01.2022 You can climb the tree to get coconuts or.....if you have an excavator.....you can do it the easy way.

13.01.2022 We continued the work on the classroom building with the usual environmental factors...heat...humidity.....rain. We were joined by 12 representatives from the tribes within Katova District who worked with us onsite each day. These workers were supported by workers from Samasodu as well.

12.01.2022 The team is debriefing in Honiara. We have had many positive meetings with our Katova counterparts in Honiara and the Honourable Stephen Billy. During the next 12 months there are plans to build 4 staff houses and two classroom blocks on the site. This will allow Form 1 (Year 7) to commence in 2021. The Sydney team members will return home 9.10pm on Thursday evening. The Tasmanian and WA team members will arrive home the following day. We have been incredibly blessed with great outcomes during this trip. Rod.

07.01.2022 The classroom block takes around 60 bubic metres of timber. This timber is sourced through locally felled trees. To prepare for the next classroom block and 4 staff houses we transported about 30 trees from the jungle to the school site.....it was hard work for the machinery.

03.01.2022 About 7am on the 1st of November, 2019 we arrived at the Katova High School site. The Landing Craft we had chartered was a little smaller than the one we usually use. As a result we were not able to beach the vessel opposite the school site. We unloaded at the old logging camp about 1km away and drove the machinery up the beach to the school site. The only obstacle was a crocodile lying in the way. He realised that there was no point taking on an excavator and moved out of the way.

02.01.2022 The Katova community have been busy building the first staff house on the High School site. Samasodu Village has almost completed the first house which is pictured. Jejevo and Molofuru Villages are on site working on the next house. Dedeu and Varagia Villages are also on site working on the third staff house. Furona and Hurepelo Villages will arrive shortly to commence staff house number 4. Great progress is being made. The Australian team wishes we could be there to work with all our Katova friends.

01.01.2022 Using locally milled timber the building teams installed the cladding around the building. As quick as they could nail it to the walls our painter was already applying the paint.