Newspaper Articles
2008
Spirit of Sharing reaches Kadavu - Fiji Daily Post
Students of Ratu Varani Memorial School in Naceva and Vacalea Primary Schools both situated on the Island of Kadavu were caught by surprise on Tuesday last week when representatives of ‘Spirit of Sharing’ turned up at their doorsteps to do what they do best - giving all sorts of sporting equipments for free.
While urban schools are used to this kind of free giveaways and sponsorship, the two schools are considered to be lucky being part of such a project.
Speaking to Daily Sports, Ratu Varani Principal, Sunia Lesivou, said that it was a privilege to accept the donations and he couldn’t wish for a better timing than that of last week.
“At the moment the school only has two rugby balls, two netball balls, two volleyball balls with one net and two soft balls” said Lesivou.
He also added that most of the rural schools around the nation rarely get the opportunity to receive such donations, as the urban schools are the fortunate ones.
“Rural schools don’t get enough opportunity such as this, so to receive this sporting equipment is a blessing for the school and the timing is just perfect,” he added.
Each of the primary schools received more than $850 worth of sporting equipment of all sorts which was surely a blessing for not only the schools but for the students as well.
The timely donation was made possible through the hard work of Peter Cole of the ‘Spirit of Sharing’ and the Rotary Club of Australia who have been donating sporting equipments to hundreds of schools in the country with their sponsorships every year for the last nine years.
Ratu Varani Memorial Schools was registered in 1934 and has a total of 111 students who are mainly from villages surrounding the village of Naceva within the Island of Kadavu.
The school has a newly selected committee that is ensured to working overtime to make sure that they have the best development and sponsors of this type compared to other committee in the past.
Also speaking to Post Sports, school committee member, the Taukei Waya, Ratu George Reece, said that they were trying to better the efforts of the last committees who had also done so much for the school.
“We are trying to better what the other committee have done in the past, so by doing that the school will be well looked after and will improve in terms of development in the field of sports and academic,” said Waya.
“It’s a big challenge though but it can be done for education is very vital as it is also a way of investing for our future generations.” He added.
“By giving these young kids the opportunity and access to education now, they will have a better chance at securing jobs and they will in return contribute back to our schools and future development of our village and society,” he concluded.
The management, staff and committee members of Ratu Varani Memorial School would like to say a big thank you to Peter Cole and his team for the wonderful and generous donation towards the school.
2008
Education in satellite service - Fiji Daily Post
THE Ministry of Education has now ventured into the world of satellite communications to effectively reach out to rural and remote schools and communities. “The communications infrastructure has been provided by Telecom Fiji using its existing systems with the software provided by M&S Consultants together with their expertise in the area of satellite communications and its application to education,” said the Minister of Education Filipe Bole. He added that the approximate cost of the satellite communication studio and school equipment is $100,000. “This is an exciting new development which will allow the Ministry to reach out to the remote schools from a central studio which is based at the Fiji College of Advanced Education in Nasinu,” he said.
‘Thank you Peter Cole’
Half a million dollars worth of sports equipment was donated to eighty schools in the Northern Division.
Peter Cole, of Melbourne, Australia collected sports equipment from schools and companies to help equip Fiji schools with sporting equipment that would contribute to the students sporting development.
On a visit to Fiji in 2000 he visited Saint John Bosco School outside Suva and found children kicking using coke bottles to play rugby.
He began this project nine years ago with five schools. The number has grown. The Ministry of Education would like to take this opportunity to thank Peter Cole for his generous support and kindness in taking on this project.
2008
A model Good Samaritan - Fiji Daily Post
If we want a better world, we have to become the change we want to see. Gandhi proclaimed that philosophy and found the means and support to do it. In the same spirit, young Australian, Peter Cole, has made Fiji’s youth his mission – to improve their lot through selfless giving of goods in order to encourage their further participation in sport. The ‘Spirit of Sharing’ founder has just visited our shores ‘enrolling volunteers for his mission, and meeting the school communities that will benefit from his efforts’. Peter describes his ‘Spirit of Sharing’ venture as ‘a simple and highly effective initiative that distributes donated sporting gear from Australia to under-resourced school communities in Fiji’. Peter started his self-sponsored ‘civilian mission’ a few years back, but is now backed by Rotary International.
During his short time in Fiji, Peter was in much demand as he travelled the country increasing awareness and enlisting support for his work. His activities included: being guest speaker at the Rotary Club of Savusavu and visiting schools in the area; meeting members of the American Peace Corps with the aim of ‘continuing contact with them’; visiting Labasa’s Principal Sports Officer from the Youth & Sports Ministry; meeting members of the rotary club of Taveuni and gaining firsthand of local needs by visiting six schools on the island; being guest speaker at the Rotary Club of Suva East and encouraging members ‘to raise donations for us from Suva business houses’.
Peter also had important meetings: ‘with Mr Filipe N Bole the Interim Minister for Education Youth & Sport’ who ‘agreed to prepare a letter of guarantee that the Ministry will support us with the distribution’ of his imported donated sporting goods; with the Rotary Club Of North Suva and the Rotaract Club of Suva where he ‘urged members to help with donations, and received assurances they would push for sponsorships’; with charity worker Elizabeth Clayton who ‘provided us with a lot of advice about bringing the container of goods into the country, and running the project more efficiently’; with the Australian High Commissioner who ‘had some great advice regarding the Spirit of Sharing business plan, and raising sponsorship’; with ‘the charismatic head coach of the Fijian Rugby team, Illivasi Tabua’ who ‘has committed to working with Fiji Rugby to find ways of helping us’; and with Patrick Crowe ‘who is responsible for taking Fijian athletes to the Olympics, as well as running many different sporting projects within Fiji’. Peter’s final meetings were with St Don Bosco Primary school where as he put it, ‘I first got the idea for the project back in 2000’ and his final ‘gave a speech to inmates at Fiji’s only Womens’ Prison’.
Peter is clearly getting a lot of support from locals. His project is a model self-starter and we hope will be emulated by many of Fiji’s overseas supporters. Fiji’s young people are lucky to have such an enthusiastic backer who heart is clearly in their court.
2008
Cole extends help to north - Fiji Daily Post
THE Northern Division will soon benefit from the ‘Good Samaritan’ help of a 23-year-old Australian citizen who has been helping Fiji youths in the past many years.
Melbourne lad Peter Cole is in Labasa today looking for school children who are looking for assistance in sports.
Cole has been an annual visitor to Fiji donating sporting equipment to primary schools in the country.
He is in the north with his mother Teresa to find out the amount of people and schools needing his assistance.
“It’s good to be back in Fiji because the people of Fiji have unique warmth in their way of life,” he said from Savusavu Town yesterday.
“I am visiting the north hoping to shift my assistance to schools in this area when I come with my two container loads of sporting equipment in October.”
Cole has expanded his assistance to secondary schools and sporting clubs when he returns later in the year.
Last year he brought $300,000 worth of equipment which was donated to schools in the west, Ra and interior of Viti Levu.
“It’s about double that amount this year, more than half-a-million dollars of sports equipment. We are in the north talking to people and also looking for assistance from the Government or anyone that can assist in vehicles and some other hands to help us distribute our equipment to outer islands,” he added.
Cole will be in Suva next week to seek Government’s help in the release and distribution of equipment.
He is also working with the Rotary Club International to help schools.
2007
Worth the effort for Cole - Fiji Times
FERNTREE Gully sporting samaritan Peter Cole has emerged from a two-week standoff with the Fijian Government to successfully distribute his cargo to the youth of the tiny island nation.
Cole's annual civilian mission to Fiji - dubbed The Spirit of Sharing - was almost thwarted by governmental red tape last month as Fijian officials demanded that he pay $37,000 tax on his container of sporting equipment.
The container was stocked with $300,000 worth of equipment to be donated to under-resourced Fijian primary schools.
Despite a media outcry about the government's demands, Cole and his friends Andrew Greenall and Stephen Longham were condemned to a fortnight of political lobbying from their hotel base in Suva.
"The excuse by the government was that nothing can be sent to their country to be donated without paying VAT tax which is their equivalent of GST," Cole explained last week after returning home.
"It was so frustrating because there was no senior minister in the government who was willing to give the green light.
"No one in the government wants to make a decision as they're worried about being sent back to their village and losing their job."
Eventually, after constantly lobbying the government for the release of the container, Cole's persistence paid off.
The government reduced the tax to $1000 and the sum was contributed by The Rotary Club of North Suva.
Having received the go-ahead, Cole embarked on an ambitious bid to visit 61 schools in just four days to distribute the equipment he had spent 14 months collecting from Australian schools, organisations and families.
The tight touring schedule meant that Cole's team had little time to play with the kids at each school but he said the smiling faces were just reward for their efforts.
2007
Plea to Finance Ministry - Fiji Times
A COMMUNITY initiative to take much needed sporting goods to schools in Fiji has been put on hold as the donors await tax exemption clearance from the interim Government.
Melbourne resident Peter Cole, who makes an annual pilgrimage to Fiji to deliver the sporting equipment, is appealing to the Ministry of Finance to release the goods.
"I plea with the Minister for Finance (Mahendra Chaudhry) to release the container at the Suva wharf," Cole said.
"It is a matter of urgency because we have to fly back to Australia on Sunday. We need to distribute the equipment before we go back home."
Cole said they have been trying to get the goods cleared with the Finance Ministry since last week Monday. The container carries in excess of $300,000 worth of sporting equipment donated businesses, friends and school communities.
With the help of close friend Peter Longham, Cole hopes to visit 80 schools around Fiji to distribute the equipment.
Cole set up his relief mission several years ago, after performing volunteer work in a number if Fijian schools. Cole was amazed at the lack of everyday sports equipment in many Fijian schools.
"No footballs, soccer balls, cricket or tennis gear, things we almost take for granted at home in Australia," Cole said.
"It breaks your heart to see vibrant youngsters forced to improvise games with sticks and bottles, because their play grounds just don't have the gear.
"So I decided to do something."
2007
Lack of sports gear a concern - Fiji Times
A COMMUNITY initiative to take much needed sporting goods to schools and their students in Fiji has been set up.
Peter Cole set up his relief mission several years ago, after performing volunteer work in a number if Fijian schools.
Cole said he was amazed at the lack of everyday sports equipment in many Fijian schools.
"No footballs, soccer balls, cricket or tennis gear, things we almost take for granted at home in Australia," Cole said.
"It breaks your heart to see vibrant youngsters forced to improvise games with sticks and bottles, because their play grounds just don't have the gear.
"So I decided to do something."
He set abut building support for his project. Letters, faces and emails were sent out to big business, friends and school communities in Australia.
What he wanted was sporting gear o the money to buy it and the donations came flooding in.
He recruited a group of volunteers to join his quest. In March last year, he and three friends traveled to Fiji to distribute a container load of donated sporting goods.
In all, the visited 85 schools and the smiles of delight in the kids' faces made the countless hours of hard work worthwhile.
All it took was one young man's vision-a civilian mission to under resourced schools in Fiji.
And in 2007, Peter Cole is determined to make it bigger and better than ever.
"All it will take is donated sporting gear and the energy and enthusiasm of sponsors and volunteers," Cole said.
"We plan to continue making a huge difference to the lives of youngsters in one of our closet Pacific countries."
He is all ready to bring smiles on the faces of kids and needs all the help he can get.
Sports is one way in which people can be bought together and this is what Cole is doing.
2007
Fiji Mission - Warrandyte FC
Warrandyte Football Club donates to charity annually and contributes to various community groups. This positivity has now been taken overseas to Fiji through the work of Peter Cole's civilian mission "The Spirit Of Sharing". Fiji, one of our closest neighbours, is an underpriviledged country. Children do not have access to the things we take for granted everyday included sports equipment and clothing. Peter Cole appealed to local sports clubs and organisations to supply equipment and sports apparel. WFC donated two dozen footballs and jumpers to the cause.
The mission was supported in Fiji by Rotary Club of North Suva by covering the Vat Tax charges and taking delivery of the container. After several delays by red tape Peter and his team commenced distributed the goods to more than 60 schools. The most common comment from the schools was praise the lord for these gifts that we have been given, they are very much needed and will enhance the lives of our kids.
Mr Greenall a builder from Olinda and a leading figure in community football flew for his first time to Fiji to experience the difference Cole's mission is making. Greenall said "This trip has been the most amazing experience of my life. I have never felt so good and so helpful. I cannot believe that a bunch of brand new & second hand sporting equipment would be so needed anywhere in the world today. I am so impressed by Cole's mission that I am joining his quest and going to help gather a heap of equipment for next years trip."
Mr Cole has been running his mission now for 7 years building up from a few boxes each year to a full container for the past two years. Cole said on his arrival back in Melbourne "I am so happy with the result of this years mission. After all the complications with clearing the container the real benefits were felt when we arrived at each school. The Fijian people are just so wonderful in nature. They appreciate what we have done. People across Fiji are starting to know us and that's great for what I am trying to do. We need to be connected to get into all the rural villages in the interior and on the islands. I am very thankful that I had Andrew Greenall & Stephen Longham along this year to assist as they worked very hard in trying conditions without complaint."
Warrandyte Football Club will again be increasing our contribution in 2008 and we are proud to be a small part of such an important mission.
