Planning for Solevu Village Sports Fund Raising Day

During the tour of our first visit to Solevu Village, Tevita mentioned to my father that the village was going to hold a sports fund raising day on 10th October 2008. Dad’s ears pricked up at the mention of sports but he was hooked when told that the sports would be rugby for the men and netball for the women.

We decided to make the sports day the date for which we would aim to have the project finished and do an official opening of the refurbished school. In essence the GFF was financing the sports day in advance and would be reimbursed afterwards with all other profits going to the village. We were hoping to raise about $F30,000 – 35,000 for the village. There would be 20 rugby teams and 17 netball teams playing on the day.

During the day rotis (flat bread) with either chicken or vegetable curry were available to buy for $F2 each plus refreshments. In the evening there was a huge feast, a Fijian specialty called “Lovo” where the food is cooked under a fire under-ground, a buffet and a Bar-b-que. There were about 6 pigs, chickens, and many other Fijian dishes. There was also live music provided by local island bands and lots of singing was enjoyed by everyone. Fijian songs were played as well as classics from Bob Marley to Neil Diamond and anything else that’s been popular over the past 3 decades.

We set up a Sports Fund Raising Day Committee in the village headed by Merewai, the Ratu’s wife. There were a few meetings in order to organise the event and ensure that it was progressing well - from how much food, to referees and umpires, to decorating, to rubbish collection and everything in between! There are many logistics to be considered for such a big event and we had to be careful not to overlook anything. Even the smallest things are of great importance, like having enough toilet paper! We also had to organise volunteers to help set-up, cook, serve, clean and collect money to name but a few tasks.

Invitations were sent out to the following places:
Villages: Solevu, Yaro, Tavua, Yanua.
Resorts: Musket Cove, Plantation, Lomani, Castaway, Malolo, Mana, Likuliku, navini, Namotu, Tavarua, Matamanoa, Tokoriki,

We expected well over one thousand people from these villages and resorts to turn up as well as participate in the sports and this number was reached. In addition to local attendees, we also invited international guests from all over the world. The media was present in the form of a local television station and a radio broadcast was arranged.

As mentioned in previous articles, we ran the breast cancer and cervical cancer screening clinic which proved to be a unique opportunity to be able to reach so many women at once. Given the number of villages and resorts that attended, we screened around 600 women! The clinic started 2 days before the Sports Fund Raising Day and ran for 3 days in all.

Art supplies are being donated to the village through “Hanna’s Dream” (for more information on this please read the article on this website). A painting competition was held for the children during the day with tables set up with the art supplies for them.

Suze Glenn (No. 1 Daughter)
Glenn Family Foundation
GFF Fiji