Page 18 - RADC Bulletin 2019

SPORT
Netball Tour to Fiji
LCpl Georgina Crook RADC
Picture the scene, 24 ladies sat next to a pool in a very nice hotel in Spain sipping on sangria discussing the very successful netball tour we were just about to finish. When one lady said we should do this again. Where? Replied another. Fiji shouted one of the Fijian ladies. That’s when everyone looked at our coach to which she raised her glass and said, ‘yeah why not I can sort that’!
And so, the hard work began, at first it was planned just to be a netball tour to Fiji but it turned into something much more...
In December 2017 we received the sad news that one of the Fijian ladies who played for Mansergh netball club had lost her battle to cancer, so our coach decided to turn it into a charity netball tour.
20 ladies including myself, WO1 Irvine and Sgt Johnson from the RADC got to work straight away with the fundraising; BFBS interviews, 24-hour netball- a- thon, Fijian curry nights, car boot sales, cake sales, raffles, yoga and even a 100km walk. The BFG community was a massive support and the trip wouldn’t have been possible without them and all their kind donations of clothes, books, toys and other essentials that we donated to various charities in Fiji.
Days 1 to 3 – En route to Fiji
So after nearly a year of fundraising it was finally time to jet off into the sunshine for what can only be described as a once in a life time opportunity and on 1 Dec 18, 20 ladies took the long 22 hour trip to Fiji. Our first stop was Nadi.
Day 4 – Nadi
The first day consisted of our first training session. It was 1000hrs and already up to
32 degrees, it was safe to say no one was keen on leaving the nice air conditioned bus. The training sessions were split down into 20-minute sessions to avoid heat exhaustion. Two hours later, hot and tired, the caretaker of the school we trained
at asked if we would like some fruit, yes everyone said excitedly not knowing we would have to climb the trees to pick our own! We arrived back at the hotel ready for an afternoon of downtime - some decided to take the bus into the local town whilst others decided to top up their vitamin D. After a quiet night in NADI it was time to set off to the capital of Fiji, Suva. A four-hour drive along the coast gave us an opportunity to see the beauty of the island.
Day 6 – Charity boxes
Today was the day that we finally got our hands on the donations that had been sent across from Germany to Fiji to the British Army support officers’ garage, a grand
total of 86 boxes had been donated. We sorted through all the boxes and split them down ready for delivery to St Christopher’s orphanage, Dilkusha children’s home and Home of Hope abused women’s shelter. The first stop was Dilkusha children’s home. Sat at the top of the hill we all knew we
had to get the boxes up there somehow, so we made a chain passing the boxes to one another. After a very hot and sweaty 15 minutes the boxes were finally in and we all settled down in the day room where we received a fantastic welcome ceremony. It was heart breaking to see the cramped confines that the children lived and slept
in but each and every one of them was so happy and positive. When giving the children the donations of books, toys and
16 RADC BULLETIN 2019