| Aore Adventist Academy | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Aore Vanuatu |
|
| Information | |
| School type | Private, Co-educational, Day school |
| Denomination | Seventh-day Adventist |
| Established | 1974 |
| Area trustee | Australasian Conference Association Limited |
| Chairperson | John Leeman |
| Dean | Leopold Toto (Boys) Naelyn Toto (Girls) |
| Administrator | Iuma Bani |
| Principal | David Rogers |
| Vice principal | Branson Gideon |
| Teaching staff | 14 |
| Gender | Mixed |
| Accreditation(s) | Adventist Accrediting Association[1] |
| Website | http://aore.adventist.edu.vu |
Aore Adventist Academy is a coeducational Christian secondary school in Aore, Vanuatu. It first opened in 1927 as 'New Hebrides Training School.'[2] Its educational status varied over the decades. In 1974, the Aore School was upgraded to that of a high school, and was renamed Aore Adventist High School. It was previously Parker Missionary School.[3] In 1994, the school's board changed the name to Aore Adventist Academy.[4]
In 2009, the school's enrolment totalled 194 students and 17 teachers.[5]
Contents |
Aore Adventist Academy is situated on the southern coast of the island of Aore. Aore is part of the nation of Vanuatu, an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean. It is some 1,750 kilometres (1,090 mi) east of northern Australia, 500 kilometres (310 mi) northeast of New Caledonia, west of Fiji, and southeast of the Solomon Islands, near New Guinea. Vanuatu was known as the New Hebrides before achieving indenpendence.
The school is on several hundred acres of fertile land which slopes down to sheltered beaches. On a prominence a little way from the shore, the school buildings are located."[6]
In 1925, the small island of Aore was chosen as the regional Adventist mission station. A fund raising campaign began. The March 8, 1926 edition of the Australasian Record included the following poem reminding the division's sabbath schools of the project's offering at the end of the month.[7]
A Call from the New Hebrides to Our Sabbath Schools
[This poem is written as voicing the plea of native believers in that group.]
THERE'S a stir among the heathen
In New Hebrides today;
Some are leaving life-long customs
For the straight and narrow way.
Still the multitudes are waiting
In their darkness for a guide;
But we have so few white workers
Many calls must be denied.
Native converts here are ready,
And are eager too to go,
But they need a special training,
And we have no school, you know.
Natives understand the native,
And can make the message clear
To us; let the white man train them,
And then act as overseer.
There's a piece of land selected
Which will make a splendid site
For a training school for workers,
Where they'll learn to do things right.
So on March the twenty-seventh,
Let your love in deeds appear ;
Give an extra special offering ;
Build a school for natives here.
Surely 'tis a good investment
Buying land to build a school,
Training natives here for workers,
Practising the Golden Rule.
So, with eager expectation,
We will pray, and watch, and wait.
Don't forget that special offering.
Help us ere it be too late.
In 1927, the church secured the property on Aore. In the early years of the school, a clear title to the land was difficult to establish. A sawmill was built. The newly acquired regional mission boat, Loloma, located there as well. They used the Loloma to bring the students to the school. Aore soon became the focal point of Adventist work in the New Hebrides. Pastor J. R. James, the mission superintendent, and a party of young New Hebrideans moved in with axes to clear the land and establish a school. Students have followed in increasing numbers, and the educational and spiritual work of this institution has been the heart of the New Hebrides Adventist Mission.[6]
The war came to the New Hebrides. The United States arrived and took control before the Japanese could do so. On the island of Espiritu Santo, 100,000 troops arrived. The native population "were astounded at the apparent equality with which black and white military personnel were treated. When they went to work for the Americans, they received respect and wages far in excess to anything they had ever experienced before. The typically generous Americans would also look at the native New Hebridean living conditions and give them clothes and beds, ice boxes and furniture."[8]
Two years before, the Australasian Adventist leadership prepared an evacuation plan. In 1942, Aore Training School closed. The non-native workers returned to Australia.[9] Native leaders attended to the church's mission in their absence. They carefully maintained church property and led in the Sabbath services. When the missionaries returned they were impressed with the level of competence these native leaders demonstrated. In 1943, the school reopened.
In 1951, the mission council decided to move its headquarters to Vila. This allowed room for the school to expand.[10]
Vanuatu achieved independence from the condominium rule of the United Kingdom and France in 1980. By this time, the demographics and transportation routes had changed. When compared to the cost of public transportation, the Adventist mission boat, Pacifique, was considered too expensive to operate. Apart from the school, Aore ceased to hold a prominent place in the Vanuatu Adventist mission.[11]
Pictures of Aore
