We recently had the opportunity to stage our annual conference in Fiji, giving us the chance to visit the children’s orphanage, Treasure House. Our advisers from around the country and their families visited the orphanage where we dropped off a range of much needed gifts, and assisted with a few jobs around the house.

The carers at the house provided us with a wishlist of the items they desperately needed, so we were thrilled that we could provide these along with a few items to make life just a little bit easier.

Fitzpatricks Private Wealth donated a brushcutter, which they had been wanting for a very long time. We also purchased everything on the ‘Wish List’ the carers gave us.

The items included:

• Electric Kettle – they had been using an old style kettle, which had to be heated on the stove for the babies’ bottles
• Electric fry pan – they couldn’t use the one they had as the wires were so frayed it was unsafe
• Blender
• Iron – for the older kids’ school uniforms
• 5 piece ‘big’ pot set – they only had small pots and therefore couldn’t cook dinner for everyone in one go
• Wooden spoon
• Kitchen knife
• Plastic jug
• Electric mixer
• Tank of fuel
• 4 cans of paint and brushes

During the visit, our team pitched in to help with some well overdue maintenance for the house, painting walls, doors, washing down the house and some general cleaning.

We painted their front gates as without the paint the gates were starting to rot. We painted the child proof gates and one of the bedrooms. They had only been using bits of paint that had been donated so everything was different colours. They were so excited to have all the gates one colour. The paint will also protect the children from splinters. The back room was a mixture of hot pink, royal blue and lime green. The room is very small and shared by 4 toddlers. The ladies were very grateful when they saw their finished ‘white’ room. It really lightened the room and made it look a lot bigger.

We also scrubbed the entire outside of the house, which was covered in mould from the very humid weather. We scrubbed the inside walls, folded washing, helped cook afternoon tea, and gave the children lots of hugs and attention, which they adored.

Below is a range of photos from the visit, and please remember, if you’re ever visiting Fiji take the time to visit the house, you will find it very inspiring.