Transcript
ISSAC TANGA: The students, most of the them are not, by looking at them they're not really happy where they are. Maybe they are moving away from the parents, some of them it is the first time to move away from the parents, to move to another island. Some of them are getting on well, some still need to adapt to where we are right now.
JENNY MEYER: How are the schooling conditions there on Maewo?
IT: In the last two weeks we missed a lot of lessons due to lack of learning facilities. When we moved out from Navutiriki on Ambae, we just travelled without teaching resources as teachers and students moved with their own learning resources. Like desks, tables we didn't bring them with us. So on arrival on Maewo, the first week was just wasted we didn't have any classes. The Education Office told us they were going to assist us, Penama Education Office, so far there's no assistance. Then they returned and collect all our desks again on Ambae and those desks arrive with us Sunday and we begin our lessons today. So it's been two weeks with not having lessons.
JM: And we've heard reports there are problems with finding enough food supplies for the students and also some issues there with leaky rooves when it rains, problems there too. Can you describe some of the challenges that you're facing there as you try and help the children with their learning.
IT: During this rainy season, the students here from Navutiriki living here in Nasawa are going on well there is no leakages in the rooves, the living, the dormitories, the permanent dormatories, except the classrooms, the tents, sometimes when there's heavy rains and there's some leakage in the tents. The foods since we leave Ambae and move to Maewo, we bring our own rations from the schools and on our arrival on Maewo, since our arrival it's been three weeks now, there is no assistance. I don't know who's responsible, the National Disaster Management Office in Vanuatu maybe they are responsible, since now there's no food. We didn't, they didn't provide us with food. The school just continue to get their own rations using their own money.
JM: What's the plan now? I understand that the volcano eruptions have settled a little bit on Ambae, what do you think the plan is there in terms of the students and their education?
IT: Right now we didn't receive any plans when we will be returning to Ambae. But as for us students and teachers, most of us, we're planning to put in a report and send them back to Education Office, for them to at least send us back, especially to go back to Ambae for the students to have learning facilities, to have good proper learning facilities to further their education until the end of this year. Because we find out that if we continue to be here for the next six months, the students' learning will be ruined because there is no proper learning facilities.
