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The Rotary International poster acknowledging the Computer
network as a joint Rotary Project between Rotary International and the
Rotary Clubs of Taradale and Nuku'alofa
President of Nuk'alofa Club, Dianne Warner
Dick Spence explains a point to Ana. Bob McCaw listens in.
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In
1998, the Club started a project to put a set of computers into the Institute of
Education in Tonga. The project was budgeted at $NZ10,000. The Rotary Club of
Nuku’alofa joined our Club in this venture and agreed to raise US$1700 (NZ$2500)
as their share of the venture. A sub-committee, which was set up comprising Bob
McCaw,
Richard Spence and President Graham Duncan, organised Rotary International funding
using the matching
grant scheme. Richard used his professional expertise and contacts to get good second
hand machines and Bob used his contacts in Tonga to build a working relationship
with the Nuku'alofa (Tonga) Rotary Club and relevant Tongan authorities. It is an area he knows
well, as he worked in the South Pacific for a number of years in the 1990's.
Good
second hand machines were eventually found with a number of Pentium II machines
being donated by the New Zealand Qualification Authority, where Bob worked at
the time. Others were found by the efforts of President Graham Duncan, who also
worked to get the matching grant from Rotary International. With this achieved,
the Taradale Club contributed their $NZ2500.
And interesting off-shoot of this projects was
that a large number of electric typewriters were donated by schools upgrading to
computer. 30 electric typewriters were offered
to the Ministry of Education in Tonga who accepted them and sent
them to 'Eua High School.
After
three years in the planning, Bob, Dick and Dick's wife Gail, flew to Tonga
with seats donated by Tonga Airlines and the other by the Taradale Club. In the
period of planning we had had to deal with four club presidents in Tonga and
three changes of College Directors. Each change meant a fresh start introducing
the incumbents to the requirements of the project. And sadly the last Nuku'alofa
(Tonga) President,
Diane Warner, lost her spouse in the middle of all this which was
devastating to her and difficult for us. A last minute hiccup was to discover the
network goods, shipped in early November, 3 months earlier, were still in
Customs. Fortunately the incoming Director
of the Training College, Alisi Karatonga, proved to be a woman of action and was
a past working colleague of Bob’s. The goods were released from customs and the
team arrived to assemble the network without any problems.
 News was received in 2004, that the Tonga
Institution of Education had been relocated to new premises, and the network
went with the move. New machines have now replaced the reconditioned ones we
supplied. It gave the Club great pleasure to learn that the project they
initiated is now being fully and successfully managed by local authorities. It
represents Rotary money well spent.
Students have their turn.
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