NEWS DESK
Teacher’s trips to Fiji a chance to help poor Liz Bell liz@baysidenews.com.au TO most Australians, Fiji is the land of plenty - a sun-soaked, tropical holiday destination renowned for its blue lagoons, relaxed lifestyle and tropical fruit trees lining the roads. But Frankston teacher Janine Atkinson knows from experience that away from the spotlight of tourists and flashy resorts, poverty, poor sanitation, food shortages and child welfare problems are the reality. Ms Atkinson, who has been visiting Fiji for the past nine years, will take leave from work to spend a year in a remote Fijian village to provide education resources and help locals set up sustainable industries. Ms Atkinson said the rural villages of Fiji, which don’t share in the tourism dollar, often have little income. Poverty forces children to drop out of school and those who do get there are often in buildings in very poor condition and devoid of basic materials. But instead of cash handouts, Ms Atkinson believes the key to helping is to teach sustainability. “When I first went to Fiji on holidays I wasn’t happy with being in a resort and having Fijians wait on me hand and foot, I wanted to experience the villages and the local people, and that’s where I saw a terrible need for even basic necessities,” she said.
Helping out: Janine Atkinson is making a difference to the lives of poor Fijians. Picture: Gary Sissons
“I felt I was in a position to help so I’ve been going back every year since, helping families, developing contacts and taking over everyday supplies such as toothbrushes and antiseptics, sports goods and stationery. “But I also know that it’s important that these villagers are helped to look after themselves and are able to set up their own industries that will sustain them.” Ms Atkinson has built a small, oneroom hut in a village in Fiji’s north, where she will spend 12 months helping out with resources and sustainability skills, including helping to set
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up a fishing industry with nets she has purchased from her own savings. Not daunted by the challenge of life without electricity or running water, Ms Atkinson said she knows exactly what she is in for. “I’ve stayed with families over there and seen it all, I know what to expect.” Ms Atkinson, who funds her trips from her own income, said Fijian villages were always in need of school supplies, sports goods and basic health necessities, as well as equipment to help them set up industries. So far, businesses and friends have rallied behind the cause, including Kingsley Park Primary School, which provided ten computers, Frankston’s Input Gym members who collected and donated 20 pairs of runners, and a school in Wangaratta, which donated school bags. According to the Asia Pacific Development Bank, only 50 per cent of Fijians have access to safe water and proper sanitation. More than 250,000 people in Fiji live in poverty and are unable to meet their basic needs, with many more living on or just above the poverty line. Anyone who would like to assist with donations of supplies, particularly gardening equipment and sewing machines, can contact Ms Atkinson’s Facebook page at facebook.com/janine.atkinson.9 online.
Parks calls for comment on latest Pt Nepean plan PARKS Victoria is calling for feedback on a revised master plan for the future of Point Nepean National Park. The plan, based on a draft released in 2010, is expected to consider a wide range of options for the pristine coastal area, taking account of Point Nepean’s historic connections to Point Lonsdale, the marine national park, its occupation and use by Aborigines as well as “appropriate” commercial and educational developments. Late in 2014, just before the end of its term in office, the then Napthine Liberal government outraged environmentalists when it leased more than 64 hectares (158 acres) of the national park to Portsea property developer Point Leisure Group. The deal included historic buildings at the Point Nepean quarantine station. However, after its November 2014 election win the Andrews Labor government quickly abandoned the contract for a tourism and educationbased development on a 50-year lease. Earlier this year, Melbourne University was given the green light to build a research facility on the site of the old Quarantine Station. Wary of further fuelling unrest about the site’s future, in inviting discussion on the master plan, Energy, Environment and Climate Change minister Lily D’Ambrosio said the government wants a plan that for the park that “reflects the communities’ views and respects the site’s rich history”.
In July this year, Shelley Penn, hired as a consultant to facilitate the public consultation process, told The News that there was “resounding agreement that Point Nepean has the values of a national park, with high conservation values and varied and layered histories”. “Point Nepean can mean different things to many people. [Since the 2010 plan] there has been a richer appreciation of the significance of the park.” She said the adopted master plan would need to “give the community a sense of what could happen”. Ms Penn said the differences required to the 2010 master plan included enlarging the scope of the plan to include economics, the marine sanctuary, cultural and ecological links between Point Nepean and Point Lonsdale, maritime history (shipwrecks) and “what is unique about the national park and its potential attractions to visitors”. Parks Victoria will hold on-site information sessions at Portsea’s Badcoe Hall from 10am-3pm, Sunday 22 January 2017. The master plan is open for community consultation until 10 February 2017 and is expected to be finalised in mid- 2017. Details: parks.vic.gov.au/pointnepeanplan Liz Bell
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Frankston Times 12 December 2016
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