AYAD volunteers meet the Minister

The AYADs in Samoa recently got the chance to meet the Hon Stephen Smith, Minister for Foreign Affairs during a recent visit he made to the region. The Minister was in Samoa participating in the ground-breaking ceremony of the Australian funded new Headquarters for the Ministry of Education, Sports and Culture. The project is a joint partnership between Samoa, Australia, Asian Development Bank and New Zealand to support education in Samoa.

Elizabeth Nannelli was one of the AYADs who got the chance to meet the Minister.

“It was a great honour to meet the Hon Stephen Smith on his recent visit to Samoa. The Minister met with the VIDA and AYAD volunteers over a lovely lunch, and made a point to talk with each of us about our projects and experiences in Samoa. We also had the pleasure of attending a reception for the Minister in the evening, where he and the Samoan Prime Minister expressed reciprocal thanks for past, present and future joint projects between Australia and Samoa, and where we enjoyed an excellent Samoan cultural display and fantastic catering from the students of the Australia-Pacific Training College”.

Elizabeth is on assignment as a Records Management Officer for the Ministry of Education, Sports and Culture.

“It is very exciting to witness the commencement of the building of the new headquarters for the Ministry. The Divisions and Sections of the Ministry are currently spread out over a relatively large amount of space, in aging buildings. It will be a great benefit for the Ministry to come together in a more centralised location and to enjoy improved facilities and infrastructure”.

To hear more about the great work being done by our AYADs in Samoa, look out for the next edition of Exchange where AYAD Danny Connery talks about his experiences as a graphic designer with Newsline Newspaper