Helping to restore the natural beauty of the Port of Refuge, Vava’u, by cleaning up the environment was a challenge for the Pangai Netball team yesterday.

On December 29 the girls, sponsored by Queen Vanilla in Vava’u, started out early and by 1:00pm had collected ten truckloads of rubbish that had been dumped in the Muikilekila area, near their village.

“The work was disgusting, we picked up thousands of used nappies, tins, cans, plastic bottles, engine parts and even an old raft and now it is finished the area is beautiful” said a young member of the team.

Netball

The girls wanted to do something that would be good for the environment as well as helping them raise some money for netball, said Ian Jones, manager of Queen Vanilla Tonga.

 “Protecting the environment is an investment in the future,” he said. “We are keen to support anyone that has the same goals regarding the environment as we do. The Pangai Netball team need to be congratulated on their hard work in cleaning up the environment around Muikilekila.”

 “Their team spirit, determination and care for the environment make them community winners and hopefully netball winners as well,” said Ian.

Queen Vanilla has been a big supporter of the reconstruction of the Vanilla Industry in Vava’u. As a part of that reconstruction they have achieved Australian Certified Organic certification and Fair Trade ANZ Certification on almost 2,500 acres of land in Vava’u.