REBUILDING  MBOSSUNG  CENTRE  SCHOOL :

Located on the island of Ambrym in Vanuatu, Mbossung Centre School was devastated by Cyclone Pam in March 2015.  (90% of Vanuatu's buildings were affected by Cyclone Pam.)  

Rotary Birkenhead is now working on the second half of this vital and ambitious project of repairing an extensively damaged school.  

Late last year - 2015 - we completed the rebuilding of the main classroom block as Stage 1 of this project.

COMPLETED  -  STAGE  1 :

Stage 1
Costing $140,000 - $150,000, this covered the repair and rebuild of the main school classroom block.  
Volunteers donating their time to work on Stage 1 has drawn people together from our community, from around NZ and even some from Australia.  Work progressed with teams on site from October 2015 through to the opening of the block in November 2015.

The materials and equipment for the project were shipped from Santo to Ambrym Island, this included a truck, supplies, timber, power generators, power saws and the numerous pre-assembled trusses required.  Trusses were assembled at Santo Hardware.  

Thanks for the great assistance that has been provided to the project by Brad Wood, Managing Director of Santo Hardware, who supplied the truck and all the gear for the project including Simon the driver.  Brad really helped with arrangements for the barge transportation, too.
Stage 1 Completed - Opening Celebration: 26 November 2015.
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A proud day for Ulei Village as Mbossung Centre School and Ambrym Island as the completed classroom block is opened!
Inside: 24 November.
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Work continues apace to finish off the interior of the new classroom block, with the ceiling going up.
Roof Shout: 20 November.
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​​Team Three has comprised folk from Santo Hardware, the World Bank, many Mbossung villagers and Rotarian Malcolm Findlay. They have completed the roof and cladding and are now painting and working on the interior.  Brad Wood from Santo Hardware reported today that the building will be finished by the end of next week!
Work Continues: 13 November.
​On Tuesday 10th November two tradesmen from Santo went to work on the project.  Next Tuesday, the 17th, sees another tradesman from Santo and Malcolm Findlay​, a Rotarian from Australia arrive.  With the wonderful assistance of local labour, the building should be completely finished, including painting, this month.  This means that this facility should be ready for the school children to use in the new school year.
Hospitality:
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The generosity of hospitality provided by the folk of Mbossung to the visiting workers can not be overstated.  It seems those who have the least somehow manage to give the most.  Truly humbling.
Team Two Returns: 3 November.
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​A great accomplishment - As Team Two returns to NZ they leave a fully framed-up and structurally very solid school building to show as the fruit of their labours.  Next steps will be the roofing and cladding, with the plan in place to complete those later this month.
Happy Faces: 1 November.
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​No record of time spent in Vanuatu would be complete without some photos of the wonderful Ni-Vanuatu people (or NiVan for short).  Mbossung village is truly blessed with beautiful children.
School: 30 October.
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Since Cyclone Pam's devastation in March (see the images at the bottom of this page) the conditions in Ulei have been very basic.  The kids have been getting some schooling, but in temporary ramshackle accommodation.  The desire to continue with education despite such challenges is really commendable and a great testament to the resilience of Ulei village. 
Comings & Goings: 29 October.
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​This week has been very eventful!  
Team One were finally able to start building work on-site, though their scheduled departure meant that they had to leave after foundation work and some framing was complete.
Brian Dowle from Team One elected to stay on for a while longer to help the transition for Team Two, who arrived to carry on the good work.  Jocelyn Hogg from Levin, Barry Blommaart from Nelson, Harry Ross from Auckland and Hayden Smith from Auckland are now hard at work building a school.
Building a School: 26 October.
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After a very eventful few days getting from Santo to Ulei in Ambrym, including a 'challenging' sea voyage and a broken bearing on the truck, Team One have got to work with getting the foundations sorted out and framework up.  
Three new classrooms underway!
Team One on Ambrym: 23 October.
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Landed, but not without incident.
Approaching Ambrym: 22 October.
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As dusk approaches, the team are heading in to Ambrym in what's basically an overloaded barge, though reasonably safe in the good weather being enjoyed today.
Ahoy!: 21 October.         
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The most recent report we have received was on Wednesday evening. The team is on MV Brisk, along with about 90 other passengers (and only one toilet, which wasn't functioning!) and lots of freight, sailing south along the coast of Pentecost Island.  Loading and unloading during the night, with three stops to go before arriving at Ambrym.  Not a very comfortable voyage, but fortunately the sea conditions have calmed down since last week.
Change of Plans: 20 October.
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Poor sea conditions, Ambrym Island's inaccessibility and potential difficulties docking there have caused a delay to shipping the supplies, with MV Brisk not due to arrive at Ambrym until Thursday.
This has caused a rethink of travel arrangements, so now Luke and Jon will be returning to NZ on Wednesday 21st, while the rest of the team undertake the not-inconsiderable task of getting everything to Mbossung.
Using their remaining time as productively as possible, Luke and Jon have been assisting Ruffino Pineda (Rotary Santo) with a project to build a water catchment for Lovenue, South Santo.  This project involves capturing water from a spring, some 2km distant, and piping it down to the village.
Packing Up, But Not Quite Shipping Out Yet: 15 October.
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It will take until Monday to complete packing up and getting everything on board the boat (MV Brisk).  The delay in departure is due to large swells into the area where the boats lands, so the team and supplies will make it to Ambrym on Thursday.  
In The Media: 13 October.                                          
The North Shore Times covering the project.
north_shore_times_article_13_oct_15__p5.pdf
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More Pre-Fab: 13-14 October.                                              
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The Stage One team working in Santo - preparing walls, doors and window frames.
Pre-fabrications: 12 October.                                              
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Productively using the extra time away from Ambrym, the team has been pre-fabricating trusses, bottom & top plate and window shutters.  More of the same planned for tomorrow.
Weather Delays: 11 October.
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The team's holed up in Santo, waiting for the wind to die down so that the sailing to Ambrym can proceed.   Alan Laughton from Rotary Koo Wee Rup-Lang Lang flew in from Victoria, Australia and has linked up with the rest of the team.
Departure:  10 October 2015.
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These are the 5 photos which inspired this project...
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