Walkathon "best day of my life, ever"

The weekend before last was the first annual Ba School for Special Education Walkathon, or as one of the students put it, “the best day of my entire life ever”. And it would have been pretty close.

The plan for the day was to have local businesses and individuals sponsor individual students.  The going rate was $1 per 1km loop of the town.  In addition on the day there would be a number of stalls, games, djs, performances etc. In the days before posters could be found stuck up all over town advertising the big day

our darling newbie even showed

What it morphed into was a fete/ fair day for the BSSE students, (current, past, new and those enrolled that never turn up) and their extended families with a stroll around the oval somewhere in the middle, for the TV cameras. There are many possibilities for why no one else showed including Fiji, Saturday market, family open day at the correctional centre. However the day could not have been better!

Oval stroll

Highlights of the day were:

beanbag "toss"

-     sack races, hilarious, and the students were surprisingly skilled

-     bean bag throwing for prizes, students not so skilled

-     dance performance, with interesting interpretation of  African dress, and the compulsory Shakira song. Parents and other younger children joining in was an awesome bonus

-     dancing – songs were dedicated to teachers, volunteers, students and parents and everyone CS on the DF. Some parents shocked and awed the entire crowd with their rhythm and daring moves.

-    Meeting parents and siblings

-    Our darling K from the slums turning up and joining in the festivities

-   Massive beaming smiles on every child’s face

-    The teachers not having to organise anything and being able to enjoy the day

our kick ass parents Cutting Sick on the Dance F

-     Dancing

-     Students not fighting

-     Great dj playing classics including Fireworks, 
     Rum and Redbull, Eurythmics (one of my all time favourite songs, but what the!), Africa (shakira) etc.

Overall the day raised about $4000 but no amount of money could match the smiles and memories we all took away from the day.

A showing off her best smile

I must give a shout out to one particular student who commandeered my camera for most of the day and not only took some fabulous photos, but also gave me freedom to roam around, dance, sack race, spin children and generally run amok without being weighed down or fretting about kerekere*.

Apprentice Photographer

* The Fijian custom where things go walkabout because what is mine is yours, or borrowing is not considered temporary.