IN February 1905, a training school for indigenous workers of the early Seventh Day Adventist Church opened at Buresala on the island of Ovalau.
Unlike tertiary schools of today, back then, only ten students attended on the first day.
It would take patience and perseverance before progress could be realized.
Soon, four more students arrived, and by the end of the first year, enrolment rose to 15 students.
As the training school grew in popularity and space became scarce, the mission headquarters and its printing press shifted from Suvavou to Buresala.
This change proved somewhat temporary. By 1912, the mission headquarters were back at Suvavou where they have remained ever since.
In the early 20th century, as villages and people got converted to Christianity in droves, the early SDA Church made inroads in Viti Levu’s highland communities. It didn’t take too long before schools got set up.
One place in Viti Levu’s heartland where adventist education took root was in the area known as Colo West.
In the beginning
In 1924, one of the first schools (if not the oldest) to set up in Colo West, specifically in the area now known as Navosa, was built in Draiba.
But because of frequent conflicts among landowners and community leaders, the school ‘wandered’ in the wilderness for decades before it could find a permanent home.
According to Onisimo Naioko, of Sawene village in the district of Namataku, the school started at Draiba Village.
From Draiba, the school relocated to Yavulevu. This happened at a time when the Tui Noikoro, Ratu Simione Nadurutalo had become a converted Christian.
Ratu Simione had a resting place on the bank so he ordered for the relocation of the school from Yavulevu to Naroqoviri. After the school got established on Ratu Simione’s piece of land, the school was named Waiyala SDA Primary School.
“When Ratu Simione passed on, my uncle, Sunia Visavisawaqa, married a teacher’s daughter who converted my uncle to be an SDA,” Mr Naioko said.
“The school was then moved from Naroqoviri to a place called Senia. By this time, colonial offices had been established on a hill at Natuatuacoko and there were talks of relocating there a government school that was set up in Nasaucoko.”
“My grandfather and namesake got wind of this move and decided to give part of our land at Salaiba to establish the school.”
Permanent home at Salaiba
The school found a permanent home in Salaiba in 1943.
Salaiba means ‘road to Ba’, a name given to denote how the area was used during British colonial rule to build an access road to neighbouring villages in the highlands of Magodro, Ba.
In 1948, a missionary teacher arrived in Salaiba. His name was Nelson William Palmer.
According to Adventist Encyclopedia, Pastor Nelson Palmer was an Australian career pastor, missionary, and Bible teacher of the SDA Church from 1941 to 1984.
He was born in Sydney, New South Wales, on January 2, 1920.
He attended Avondale College in 1936 and completed his Leaving Certificate in NSW in 1937 before attending Longburn Adventist College (LAC) in New Zealand from 1938 to 1940. He was baptized there in 1938.
During his years of training he met Betty Maud Gorrell, born on February 18, 1920, at Maxwell near Wanganui in North New Zealand. She was a student at Longburn College.
Nelson and Betty got married on December 15, 1942. They later had two daughters Judith and Jillian, who were both born in Fiji.
Their second denominational appointment was Rarotonga in the Cook Islands where, in the latter part of 1944 and 1945, Palmer worked in the Mission Training School.
The Palmers moved back to New Zealand for three years of pastoral and evangelistic work from 1945 until 1948 before they spent the years 1948 until 1956 as missionaries in Fiji.
Nelson Palmer
In 1948, five years after Salaiba had become Waiyala SDA Primary School’s permanent home, pastor and teacher, Nelson Palmer, arrived in Navosa to do missionary work.
He spent eight years in the highlands, was an avid farmer and spoke the local dialect.
“In an effort to protect the school, teachers and students, Nelson Palmer asked my elders to lease land on which the school was located. He was given 11 acres and the school remains there until today,” Mr Naioko said.
Mr Naioko, the son of one of the pioneering turaga ni koro of the school, attended Nelson Palmer from 1964 to 1970 (Class 1 to 6).
As was the trend in those colonial days, students of SDA schools from all around Fiji would attend classes 1 to 6 in their various locations before finishing classes 7 and 8 at Vatuvonu SDA Primary School in Buca Bay, Cakaudrove, hundreds of kilometres away from home.
“In those days, education faced many challenges, but parents overcame the hardships they faced because they believed in the rewards of adventist education,” former principal and church education director, Peni Dakua said.
“All our schools around the world teach the ‘Bible’ as an examinable subject which means that it is as important as Maths and English. Our students therefore are exposed to holistic education and we emphasise on the physical, social, mental and spiritual aspects of a human being.”
The SDA Church’s philosophy on education is distinct in that it is grounded on the holy teachings in the Bible and its purpose is to return human beings to their original relationship with the divine.
An education of this kind imparts far more than academic knowledge. It fosters a balanced development of the whole person—spiritual, physical, intellectual, and social-emotional—a process that spans a lifetime.
Working together, homes, schools, and churches cooperate with divine agencies to prepare learners to be good citizens in this world and for eternity.
100th birthday
Nelson Palmer SDA Primary School in Salaiba celebrated its 100th birthday last weekend.
The event brought together hundreds of ex-students, former teachers and pastors from all parts of the country and overseas to a weekend of fun, fellowship and fundraising drive to finance a new classroom block for the school. Over $36,000 was collected through soli.
The school’s two oldest ex-scholars, Sakiusa Sugumai and Lesayani Lewavaro, were invited to unveil the school’s 100th anniversary commemorative monument while 10 individuals were decorated with centennial pins.
Octogenarian, Sakiusa Sugumai, could not attend the celebration but sent his best wishes and prayers. He is the father of the current president of the SDA Church, Pastor Nasoni Lutunaliwa, from Naqarawai in the province of Namosi.
“I am happy to be part of today’s celebration,” Lesayani, 93, of told The Sunday Times.
Lesayani, who has remained a spinster all her life, attended Class 1 at Nelson Palmer and her teacher was Pastor Palmer himself.
“Isa, he was my teacher and he loved farming. He used to plant watermelons, tomatoes and sugar cane,” Lesayani reminisced.
“I also had the honour of looking after his daughter, Judy, and rinsing her napkins. This happened after school.”
Lesayani said although she had a few suitors, she decided to remain single.
“I am a strong woman and I could look after myself and do everything on my own. There was no reason to get married.
“I was born in Vatubalavu. I remember growing seeing Ratu Sukuna, Ratu Soso, Rigamoto and Losalini Dovi in Navosa.”
Church president, Pastor Lutunaliwa said the impact of Nelson Palmer in the lives of its students over the past 100 years could not be quantified.
He thanked, on behalf of the church, the spirit of service rendered by teachers, pastors and students of the school from 1924 to 2024.
History being the subject it is, a group’s version of events may not be the same as that held by another group. When publishing one account, it is not our intention to cause division or to disrespect other oral traditions. Those with a different version can contact us so we can publish your account of history too — Editor.
