Cyclone Winston tore through Fiji on 20th Feb. 2016, changing the lives of children and families there forever.
Fiji is in a state of natural disaster and its people are in urgent need after Cyclone Winston ripped through the Island nation and left a trail of destruction and heartbreak with 44 dead, more than 35,000 homeless and everyone – babies, families and the elderly – with nothing. Devastating images show the impact of Fiji’s biggest ever storm, with debris scattered everywhere and nothing but single walls standing for some homes. Mothers cradle children in the wreckage of their homes, children huddle together as they seek refuge at evacuation centres and fragile, elderly citizens are forced to fend themselves, left with nothing but the shirt on their backs… Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama is warning his devastated nation it faces a long and difficult recovery. (Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3463347/Death-toll-Fiji-rises-44-10-month-old-baby-presumed-dead-catastrophic-Cyclone-Winston-tore-country-wiping-village.html)
A woman and her son in their damaged house in Viti Levu, Fiji. PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
The children of St. Brigid’s School (in Dunedin) decided to have a mufti day to support their peers in Fiji. The school children each brought along some gold coins, which were laid out on the ground to spell the word “Fiji”.
St. Brigid’s School children spell out the word “Fiji” in coins on the floor of their school hall.
“The kids in Fiji have had their homes, schools and churches all smashed up,” Ben, aged 8, told us. “We thought how bad we’d feel if that happened to us. Some of them have even had people in their families die. It’s good if we can do something to help.”
All together St. Brigid’s mufti day raised $243 for the Catholic Charity organisation Caritas, who have organised an appeal to support those affected by Cyclone Winston in Fiji.
For more information about St. Brigid’s School, see their website: http://www.stbrigidsdn.school.nz/
St. Brigid’s School children, collecting the money they raised to help those affected by Cyclone Winston in Fiji.
Related Links:
http://caritas.org.nz/where-we-work/emergencies/cyclone-winston-response
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