APTC army do a working bee at the aged care home

16 December 2011

An army of over 50 enthusiastic APTC students and staff volunteers recently descended on the Mapuifagalele (Vailele) Aged Care home run by the Little Sisters of the Poor. The students cleaned the chapel, weeded the vegetable garden and cooked nutritious and interesting meals that could be frozen for the residents. Some of the trade students visited the home during the week before the working bee and were able to repair and service wheelchairs and do plumbing work. Hospitality Students Stephanie Eta & Elizabeth Forest said "We love doing this as our contribution to the elderly people in Samoa. We are used to doing this kind of work (cleaning the chapel) back home in the Solomons so we are happy to do it for the aged in Samoa."

Sister Malia Alosia is the sister-in-charge at the Mapuifagalele (Vailele) Aged Care home. She said to APTC "we thank you for your charitable service to the elderly of Samoa and God will be glorified and you will get the everlasting blessing from God. "

The working bee was organised by the APTC student representative group and the Student Services Officer Muta Isara. It was a way of saying thank you to Samoa for hosting them during their studies in Samoa. The students are from PNG, Solomons, Tonga, Fiji, Kiribati as well as Samoa. They are studying APTC courses in Tourism, Hospitality, Cookery, Fitting & Machining, Welding and Fabrication, and Plumbing.

APTC Cookery student Pulono works as a cook at the home. He was delighted when the APTC students volunteered to do the working bee. He said "I am learning so much about cookery at APTC in my course and I know other students are the same in their courses. Working here at the aged care home I have seen lots of things that needed to be done by skilled people. My fellow students from across the Pacific have been able to use their skills to get lots of these extra jobs done and we have had fun while we are doing it. Some of my fellow cookery students from PNG and the Solomons have been coming here as volunteers every weekend since they have been in Samoa.

After the work was done the students shared a short service with the residents and the sisters and then met many of the residents over lunch.

APTC is currently taking applications for all courses including new courses in Aged Care, Youth Work and Disability Work. Other courses include Trades and Technology, Tourism and Hospitality and Community Work. Contact APTC on 26844 or call at the office on the campus of NUS for information about how to apply.