Lesasanamal

Lesasanamal

Interview with Principal

Here we interview the head teacher, against a background showing some of the damage to the school.

The principal begins by saying that she has been teaching three years at the primary school having transferred from another school. She details the damage to the school: there has been damage to the roof of the school, office and staff houses. The two kindys and staff houses were destroyed. A lot of branches broke off from the trees during the storm which made the conditions very dangerous during the cyclone itself, as well as impenetrable. During the cyclone, because of all the falling branches causing damage to buildings and homes, some people tried to evacuate to the school to shelter instead. The wind was very strong but around 10-11pm, the wind suddenly changed direction. After that point, the village became more sheltered so it wasn’t so bad. This meant the villagers experienced a glimmer of hope of surviving.

There are 60 households in the direct village and 102 students currently enrolled at the primary school. The catchment goes beyond the village.

The principal heard the first warning the day before so the principal had some time to move the stationery and books to a safer location. However, it wasn’t enough time to move everything so there was a limit to how much could be saved. However, as the cyclone destroyed the roof, the things that had been moved to a safer location became damaged regardless meaning that the stationery, curriculum and books were spoiled. Basic things will take a few months to recover; however, the principal has no idea about when school will resume and it worries her that she cannot put a time scale on this.

The principal concludes by saying that there really needs to be more information and pre-warning about cyclones as they could not prepare effectively. Most people didn’t think it would be a very big cyclone and thought things would be ok. In her opinion, Cyclone Harold is every bit as bad as Cyclone Pam. The government have given teachers 30 days off but cannot confirm what will happen after that.