RMMS Prize Giving Ceremony and Concert

Ratu Meli Memorial School’s annual prize giving ceremony and end of the year concert took place last week and was the perfect way to end an amazing year at the school. Each class chose 1 or 2 songs and with the help of their teacher and volunteer created a dance. Mrs. Laisani had her heart set on helping her class 1 students learn some moves to Jingle Bells. The class 3 teacher, Mr. Saki, helped his class learn the Meke, which the student performed wearing traditional costumes. Class 5, with the enthusiastic help of their volunteer, Anthony, learnt a Samoan dance to the song, Tevaka. For their final event at Ratu Meli, class 8 sang an acapella version of Bob Marley’s One Love. Prior to the concert, the school held 2 rehearsals, where the headmaster, Mr. Manoa, announced that he would be cutting any dances that were not up to scratch. Luckily all of the students preformed beyond Mr. Manoa’s standards and all the dances were deemed more than acceptable for the concert.

The concert was preceded by speeches from the chief of the Yasawas, Ratu Epeli and Mr. Manoa. GVI was also asked to give a speech so Lauren and Katie thanked the students, teachers and the community for helping make this year such success. Prizes were given for each subject with GVI responsible for the prizes for Art, Music and P.E. The GVI construction team also awarded a brand new shovel and pitch fork to the class who took the greatest care of their vegetable garden. The construction team leader, Esava, also made a motivational speech, promoting the importance of agriculture to the sustainable livelihoods of communities in the Yasawas.

The final item of the prize giving ceremony and concert was a surprise dance to the number one song in Fiji, Azonto, by the GVI education volunteers. The students and parents found the not-so-well coordinated dance hilarious and the volunteers were soon joined on stage by a number of enthusiastic children and adults alike. It was a great way to end, not only the afternoon, but also a remarkable year at Ratu Meli Memorial School. 

RMMS Prize Giving Ceremony and Concert