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Queens Baton Visited Koroipita

The Birmingham 2022 Queen’s Baton Relay visited “Koroipita” in Lautoka yesterday on 14 February for its final stop of the Relay as part of the Commonwealth Games theme of sustainability.

Commonwealth Games Association Fiji selected Koroipita to be part of the programne for its reknowned success in community development and sustainability.

The Queens Baton Relay is in Fiji for 2 days and carried by current and former Commonwealth Games athletes.

UK Deputy High Commisioner to Fiji Mr Paul Welsh, Commisioner West Mr Mesake Ledua, Koroipita founder Mr Peter Drysdale, Koroipita Trustees, staffs and residents, Lautoka City Council CEO Mr Mohammad Anees Khan, representatives of FASANOC, government delegates , community members and stakeholders participated in the 2 hour programme.

The Queens’ Baton Relay encourages hosting Commonwealth nations to showcase certain themes or Commonwealth Games values that include sustainability, equality, humanity, destiny and untold stories.

Koroipita is a project of the Model Towns Charitable Trust. This first model town demonstrates these values by providing a fully engineered and serviced subdivision with wide road access, clean water supply, electricity, sewerage treatment, storm water drains, a garbage management system, cyclone-safe houses and advancement opportunities for seriously poor families.

In fact, Koroipita, also known at Peter’s Village, translated to English from the I-Taukei language, scores highly for 16 of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs).

These pioneering lessons here are of world significance, and the reason for the Baton to visit the community.

Koroipita is the vision of Peter Drysdale, an award winning philanthropist in Fiji and is the founder of the original Rotahomes project of the Rotary Club of Lautoka, later registered as the Model Towns Charitable Trust (MTCT) in 2011. For 37 years, Peter has been building cyclone safe homes for severely poor families in Western Viti Levu. A total of 1002 houses have been built including 263 in Koroipita, to house 4,400 people.

MTCT provides guidance and support for the advancement of needy families by way of a holistic and dynamic community development programme. The stand-out achievement has been 760 of the second generation youth have moved outward and upward into tertiary education, good jobs, and good marriages in mainstream society. Peter describes this as the University of Life starting with their kindergarten.

The project has been supported by the New Zealand Aid Programme and the Fiji Government, Rotary and individual donors. More than 2000 volunteers have served at Koroipita.

Koroipita is the first of what could potentially be a series of “model” communities in Fiji to address the problems of squatter settlements in peri-urban areas, the management of rural/urban drift and the future resettlement and integration of Climate Change refugees.

MTCT aims to construct more model towns in Fiji and transfer this model to Pacific Island countries and to wherever there are homeless people.

The Fiji Association of Sports and National Olympic Committee’s (FASANOC) Athletes and Communities Engagement (ACE) Programme has in the past visited Koroipita to advocate on social issues including messages on Staying Healthy and Go Green.

The Queen’s Baton Relay is in Fiji for two days and will be carried by Baton bearers, including current and former Commonwealth Games athletes, who will visit several pre -planned destinations and experience special authentic Fiji activities.

Commonwealth Games Association Fiji Secretary General Lorraine Mar said: with “untold stories” being one of the themes of the Queen’s Baton Relay, we selected Koroipita to be part of the programme for its success in community development and sustainability. In highlighting this success, we hope that many other communities in Fiji and around the Commonwealth may find positives that can also help their own communities.

She said that we’ve seen what role sports plays in carrying the mood of the country and we hope the Queens Baton Relay will lift the nation as we tackle the third wave of COVID-19.

The 16th official Queen’s Baton Relay is an epic journey covering the entirety of the Commonwealth as it will travel to all 72 nations and territories, covering a distance of 140,000 kilometers. For 269 days, the Baton will travel to Europe, Africa, Asia, Oceania, the Caribbean and the Americas, before it embarks on the final stretch of its journey across England for25 days.

The Queen’s Baton Relay will complete its journey at the Opening Ceremony of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games on 28 July 2022. This is a traditional and fundamental part of the Games and the Opening Ceremony, as the final Baton bearer will pass the Baton back to The Queen. The Queen’s message to the Commonwealth will then be removed from the Baton and read aloud, marking the official start of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.