Off the Wall 21st October, 2015
My son turns eleven years old on Thursday and so we have
begun to have more regular “father and son” conversations. Some are about
adolescence and puberty, others about faith, growing up in a changing world and
of course the ‘you’re growing up now’ conversations about self-discipline and
social responsibility.
Yet there are some boys and young men who do not have
that opportunity for “father and son” conversations, at least not in the
conventional sense. These are boys raised by their mothers as solo parents, or
by their grandparents and guardians, or by the state or care facilities.
In the past the Methodist Church in Fiji cared for
orphaned or abandoned children at their orphanage in Dilkusha. However as the
little boys grew to manhood, it became inappropriate for them to reside at
Dilkusha, even though they were housed in a separate unit. With an increase in
vulnerable young women and girls being brought to the home for care, the Church
decided in 1970 to find an alternative refuge for the boys. After an exhaustive
process of searching for a new location for a Boys’ Orphanage, a property was
bought from the David Sharan Family of Ba. Veilomani Boys’ Home was finally
established and officially opened on the 6th of November 1970. “Veilomani”
taken as the i-taukei word for “Love” describing the Church’s efforts to give
the much needed love for the boys.
From a small beginning of some 5 children the Home today
caters for 24 children between the ages of 7 to 43. There are primary school
children, secondary school children and vocational children with three senior
boys. These senior boys were transferred from the Dilkusha Girls Home because
of the age factor and continue live at Veilomani because of mental health
issues. One of the older boys is now 38 but does not speak, the other is 38 but
suffers from epilepsy and another aged 24 is mentally weak.
Like its sister institution, Dilkusha, Veilomani Boys’ Home
is part of the Methodist Church in Fiji’s Department of Christian Citizenship
and Social Services. It is an approved facility under the guidelines stipulated
bythe Fijian Government’s Ministry of
Social Services minimum standards for all care giver institutions in Fiji.
Veilomani has been operating for more than 45 years.
During these years the dedicated staff at the Home have endeavoured to provide
a “home away from home” to all children. This means providing accommodation,
food, clothes, daily needs, education, stationaries and other school
requirements, opportunities to participate in non-formal education and
spiritual and moral formation through local church activities (Church Services,
Youth Fellowship, Sunday school, Bible studies, prayer fellowships etc.)
sports, family get together etc. Opportunities are provided for children to
create an identity for themselves by seeking, learning and developing their
visions and talents; and to obtain the level of sustainability to be able to
return to their own family, society, community and the nation at large.
It hasn’t been easy work. The Home situated on
approximately 7 acres of land is basically a wooden building bought by the
church way back in 1966. In 2012 the entire roof of the Home was blown away by
cyclone T.C. Evan and it had to be rebuilt. Even with funds from the Church and
from the government as well as donations and assistance received, Veilomani Home
still carries a Bank Loan of $35,000.00 which it has been struggling to pay
off. This year the Home also had to come
up with a $20, 00.00 premiums.
By 1985 it became abundtly clear that the children that
were taken in the Home needed some form of training so that they would be able
to find employment to earn a living. Thus in 1985 the Methodist Church built a
small training Centre known as the Veilomani Rehabilitation Workshop. The young
children were provided training in the following trade; Carpentry and Joinery,
Automotive and Welding.
Around 2005
Government also began to show interest and began to provide a small grant of
around $15,000.00 per annum to assist the training programme for these young
people. BY this time children from
various other homes began to show keen interest in getting trained and the
Centre began to take in children as day scholars. By 2009 when the late (Rev
Sarwesh Kumar Singh) took over the Superintendent ship of the Boys Home and
also as the principal of the training Centre it had become very clear that there
was a need for more professionalism in the training programme and provide
training that could be certified and recognised and provide skills and
qualification for the boys.
After much
negotiation with Government and the Church the proposal for recognition as a
vocational insititute was accepted. This resulted in a change the name of the
training Centre and inMarch 2012 the training Centre was renamed the “Methodist
Veilomani Rehabilitation and Vocational College” and registered to become the
15th secondary school in Ba. The college now trains young people in the
following trades:
a. Carpentry
and Joinery
b. Automotive
Engineering
c. Welding and
Fabrication
Apart from the following subjects that students choose to
undergo training in, the students have to also undertake the following
compulsory subjects – Math’s and English, Basic Computer studies, Agriculture
and Bee Farming.
The Vocational College is also an inclusive special
school and children with special need are also taught at the school. We have
student who is deaf and dumb, young people with some physical impairment, etc.
A lot of the children are slow learners or non-readers.
The greatest satisfaction for those who toil at the Home
and the Rehabilitation and Vocational College is that each year some 20 young
people find employment. Young men trained at Veilomani have found employment at
the Gold Mines, at FSC and in many local industries in Ba.
Next Saturday, the 31st of October, is Veilomani
Boys Home College “Open Day.” Held at the Home in Ba, there will be display of
the work done at the College, and products, including their delicious honey,
for sale. All proceed from sales and any donations received will go towards
urgently needed blankets, pillows, bed sheets, kitchenware (utensils and other
items) and mattresses for the boys.
If you are able to visit them for their Open Day please do.
The boys will be glad to see you, even if you are just visiting. And if you are
able to share your “Veilomani” with them, it will be returned in abundance.
No comments:
Post a Comment