Tribewanted: Vorovoro

As usual, like any journey to Fiji, getting the second Zaishu donation to the Mali District School took about 6 months.

This time, I was honored to give a special presentation to an exceptional group of woman who make up a group called Tea & Empathy. Gathering as a community, self-organized, they meet every other month at someone’s home to have one of the members present information about an organization that’s near and dear to their heart. The goal is to learn more in-depth about the benefits of the donations made to the group, how the money is spent, and to understand more of the impact made in supporting a given cause. Their motto:

Tea & Empathy, women dedicated to making a difference, one tea at a time.

So, in January, at the home of tribe member, Kathryn Ciccoletti, we gathered. About 25 women were in attendance, and we had mats and Zaishus on-hand, as I gave an overview of the TribeWanted project and delved more deeply into sustainable design practices and how the Zaishu project came about. This second donation to the Mali District School, one of eight pledged, came almost entirely from the generous donations of the Tea & Empathy membership. A big vinaka vaka levu to each of them!

After collecting the donations, it was important to check exchange rates and be sure we followed the protocols for the complexities of making overseas donations. Best to have everything hand-delivered, which meant a keenly timed exchange in London, when Ben and I were able to connect at Paddington Station for a brief bula sia. He graciously delivered the donation in person to the school, along with copies of an article about the project in Australian publication, Dumbofeather.

Ironically, Dumbofeather reached out to me about using a photo of Ben that I’d taken on my very first trip to the island. And we realized that it was also in Dumbofeather in which I first read about Matthew Butler, the genius creative designer behind the Zaishu. I had connected with Matthew after I read about his projects in a similar profile to the one that the magazine has just written on Ben. So, as with many things Fijian, it all comes full circle.

The School Board is meeting to decide exactly how to allocate the funds, which are earmarked for arts and sustainability education, and you can watch for updates from the island here. In the meantime, if you’d like to support the project, there are still a few Zaishu chairs left for purchase – and all of the proceeds go directly to this cause.

You can read more about the project and previous donation here: http://www.tribewanted.com/users/259/blogs/2169

You can still purchase one of the remaining limited edition Zaishu stools here: http://www.reformschoolrules.com/pc/babyzaishu/studentofthemonth/TribeWanted+Baby+Zaishus%27

And read about the project in the latest issue of Dumbofeather: http://dumbofeather.com/