Vaiala Beach School - Samoa: Strength, Balance and Flexibility

Strength, Balance and Flexibility - August 2016

On Friday the 5th August the Years 6, 7 and 8 students were lucky to have Rachel, a teacher of Tai Chi and Qi Gong visit and lead the students through a training session.

Rachel is visiting Samoa from New Zealand and offering classes at the School of Yoga and Taichi Studio, Meredith Compound Levili.

The students found the session relaxing and fun and some are keen to try this form of exercise again. Thank you to Marjorie Meredith for initiating this visit and for more information on classes, pop down to the Meredith Compound in Levili and speak to Marjorie.

Rachel and Marjorie with the students.

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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Strength, Balance and Flexibility - August 2016