Vaiala Beach School - Samoa: Introducing Scientist

Introducing Scientist - Aine

Aine, a Year 5 student was the winner of her year group. Aine proved that it is possible to weigh smoke! Aine thought that you could weigh smoke by burning 20 cigarettes without filters and subtracting the weight of the remaining ash from the weight of the cigarettes before they were burnt. Aine was very precise with her measurement and even conducted her experiment with very very sensitive scales (the ones real scientists use!) So there you have it, yes you can actually weigh smoke!

Introducing Lorraine Williams, Principal.

Lorraine is the reason Vaiala Beach School is what it is today. She first arrived in Samoa back in 1981 with the idea she would be staying a year or two. Instead she is still here and Vaiala Beach School is the result of her hard work.

When Lorraine was asked if she could teach a couple’s son she had no idea one student would lead to five students then ten and then fifty. Before she knew it, the Lorraine Williams School had started and the journey was just beginning. The first location of her school was at Vaiala Beach.

What followed was a series of events that would have seen some people give up. But not Lorraine, even after two cyclones that wiped out the school and its resources, she started again and rebuilt the school in Vailima where it is today. Lorraine speaks her mind and she used this skill to convince the bank that this solo-mother was the right choice to lend to so she could build a new school.

The school slowly grew in classrooms and in students.

Thousands of students have benefitted from one women’s vision – Lorraine Williams.

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Introducing Scientist - Aine