Generous teenager gives her new computer to Bible work

RAROTONGA, South Pacific — Rosalia Samuel, 13, is the second of six children. She and her family live on the island of Rarotonga in the Cook Islands, two groups of widely scattered islands in the South Pacific Ocean. For them, as for many people in the South Pacific, life presents a daily struggle to make ends meet. Yet Rosalia decided to give away a brand new desktop computer to further a Bible revision project which will benefit the Christians of the Cook Islands.

The computer was the prize in a year-long competition to find the best student of her year in the school district. Rosalia is a second-form student and has been at the top of her class since she was in the second grade at primary school. She is captain of her form and a member of the school’s student council. Not surprisingly, therefore, she won the competition and the computer was hers.

No electricity

The part of the village where she lives has no electricity, however, and Rosalia was therefore keen to see the prize go to someone who could put it to proper use. Her family and many of her friends advised her to sell it and buy herself something with the money, but Rosalia decided she would rather do something else with it.

The church she attends is St Paul’s Catholic Church and the parish priest there, Father Damian Marinus, is also the principal reviser on the Cook Islands Maori Bible revision project.

Fr Marinus duly heard from Rosalia about her decision regarding her prize and, when she learned from him about the project, she made up her mind where the computer should go.