A visit to Dilkusha

Above photos: Deaconess Olivia when younger, and birthday of Dilkusha with Olivia and PM Qarase and his wife.

from w
Recently when we were in Suva Peceli and I decided to visit Dilkusha, because many years ago we lived in Shantiwas, a house below the hill. Our old house is gone now, probably removed when they built the new Rewa bridge.


Shantiniwas had been a strange building - once a hospital, once the home of a missionary sister with a hall used by the Dilkusha church. When we were there, we had two bedrooms for seven of us, an office facing the road, a huge hall so we had a piano and a table-tennis table, two rooms for storing clothes, etc. to give away. The neighbouring house was that of the pastor, Deo Dass Reuben and his family - very kind people.

Anyway we climbed up the steps and met with Deaconess Olivia on the verandah and had a beautiful view of the Rewa river, the two bridges, as we drank our lemon drinks. It was lovely to talk with Olivia who we hadn't met for a long time, and we noticed how well-presented the buildings of the orphanage and the nearby Girls School were.
These days they look after less than forty children. In the days when Gwen Davies was in charge there were over a hundred children. Through the years Dilkusha has indeed been a place of a 'happy heart'. and of course now there are three schools, Girls, Boys, and a High School.