Upolu Career Day

One of the organizations that I have become involved in outside of my school is an NGO called Avanoa Tutusa, which is aimed at creating programs and opportunities to benefit women and children in the Samoan community. One of the annual projects sponsored and held by Avanoa Tutusa is a career day put on for all of the secondary school students in the country. Exhibitors are solicited from many of the businesses and governmental ministries in the country to set up booths and provide information about possible career opportunities to the students as they come around to explore. On Friday the Upolu Career Day went off with smashing success. Some of the volunteers showed up at 6 in the morning to set things up and get breakfast out. We made about ten gallons of tea in the largest pot known to man and helped set up exhibitions. Hundreds of students from schools all over the island started showing up at about 8 in the morning. There was a faife’au (preacher) there to lead a morning prayer and a motivational speaker to talk with all of the students about being committed towards exploring their options for the future. And then the students all got up and wandered around to peruse each booth and talk with the representatives that had come to present information. There were well over 500 students from 15-20 schools in attendance and it was really wonderful watching the event unfold as all of the students really became interested in exploring and finding out more about each organization. One company that works with automobiles actually brought a car frame into the building to show the students. (Even if the car itself was mostly for flash it was well worth it, being extremely entertaining to watch them struggle to get it through the doorway!) The Animal Protection Society brought in a puppy for the students to play with and talk about that I had to restrain myself from dognapping. The police department came with a full-on hour long presentation on being a policeman in Samoa. The event ran all day and was a huge success. It was really great to be a part of everything and to see what a wonderful and novel experience it was for all of the students. By the end of the day the volunteers that ran everything could barely stand but it was great knowing that all of our hard work really paid off. There will be a second Career Day in Savaii for all of the secondary students out there in a week and a half and I hope that it goes as successfully as this one did. And that next time the food gets there on time :)