Support towards the cause of uplifting disabled students in our communities remains a vital aspect of community service and tournaments such as the Eagles for Ears Charity Golf tournament champion it dearly.
Competition representative Howard Politini, in reference to recent news reports, emphasised how disabled students were often neglected and yet needed the most to ensure they were well educated, nourished and cared for.
“They are still the neglected ones, they are still wandering around in villages and so on, not getting the same opportunities that our able-bodied children are getting,” Politini said.
And since the benefactor of the golf tourney is the Gospel School of the Deaf, he shared how the school served as an area where these students were brought in and educated up to secondary school level.
“They’re actually getting paid to do jobs, building, working, interpreting – so they’re out there,” he added.
Politini’s remarks are reflected in new data presented at a National Dialogue on Supporting Children with Disabilities in Fiji where it showed children with disabilities were not attending school from an early age.
For children aged two to four, only 3.8 per cent are attending early childhood education, while 5.9 per cent were not attending.
For those aged five to 17 years, 8.9 per cent were attending school while 19.2 per cent missed out.
Figures as such are driving organisers of the charity golf tournament to open the gates for more teams to register their interest in the meet, and even if they cannot play, any form of support would suffice.
“We will take care of players manning the teams, the main thing is just some sponsorship,” he said.
“And if you can’t do that or have a team, then just give us a cheque towards the Gospel School of the Deaf and we’ll be happy with that.”
The charity golf tournament will be held next Saturday at the Denarau Golf & Racquet Club on Port Denarau in Nadi.
