So I finally met with the principal (pule), Nome, of Lefaga Junior Secondary School to talk about the SPA (Small Project Assistance) Grant that I had taken over from a departed Peace Corps Volunteer.

The purpose of the meeting was to determine their commitment level and thereby acertain the sustainability of the project, which is in question.

The project involves support of 4 computers that were donated to the school by the Vitaly Juice company in Florida.

After talking to Nome, I have many doubts about the long term sustainability of these computers. The school is right near the ocean and the salt air is very damging, in fact it has already KO'd three monitors, so only one of the four computers is operational. There haven't been covers on the computers any of the three times that I have visited. This is the minimum that you would expect for protection.

It's troubling because the school needs computers. The teachers don't have anything to prepare exams, keep track of grades or anything. They don't even have a copy machine. A working computer with a printer would bring the level or education up dramatically by simply reducing the amount of hand copying that the students have to endure, but I digress.

In talking to Nome about what was needed to properly prepare the computer room and keep the machines functioning, he mentioned that the school has been waiting for JICA, the Japanese International Cooperation Association, to build them a new school. Ok, but there's no sign that this is going to happen any time soon, so it's not worth waiting for that.

They've also sent one of their teachers, Pulu, to the national university to get computer training, which is great. However when I asked if Pulu could start to train the other teachers, Nome said, no, they want to learn from a Palagi teacher.

I'm concerned about the pervasive climate in Samoa that pecipitates these attitudes. This country has become so dependant on foreign aid and assistance from overseas volunteers that even when they have a perfect opportunity for self-sustainable development, such as Pulu training the other teachers, they shine it on because of what I look at as a co-dependency.

So while I want to help out the teachers of Lefaga Junior Secondary, I'm very hesitant to spend US Taxpayer money on this project. I'll have to talk it over with some staff members of Peace Corps Samoa and see what they, but I have a feeling that they will agree.