A New Zealand-based company which has been involved in major projects in Samoa has come forward to help two local charity organisations that have been making a difference.

The Samoa Cancer Society (S.C.S.) and the Little Sisters of the Poor are the local charities that were assisted by Pacific Engineering Projects (P.E.P.).

P.E.P. Director Chandar Sen said one of the guiding principles of their company is ‘do good where you do well’.

“P.E.P. is currently building a fuel tank at Sogi for Ministry of Finance. Earlier amongst other works PEP designed and built the Fuluasou hydro power station for E.P.C. [Electric Power Corporation], chlorination installation at four water treatment plants for S.W.A. [Samoa Water Authority] and the three fuel tanks at Apia Wharf,” said Mr. Sen.

“In keeping with this principle P.E.P. has been making donations through the Institute of Professional Engineers (IPES) for scholarships and IPES hosted events. While P.E.P. will continue that, P.E.P. has decided to make direct donations as well.

“The suffering from cancer is something the shareholders relate to, based on their own family circumstances so it was an obvious choice to donate to Samoa Cancer Society.”

The Little Sisters of the Poor run the Mapuifagalele Home of the Elderly at Vailele, which is currently Samoa's only nursing home for the elderly. The sisters are an international congregation of Roman Catholic nuns who also perform this service in many other nations.

Mr Sen said they felt that the two organisations were leading a worthy cause and it would be best to provide support to those who are making a real difference in the lives of the people.

The S.C.S. provides counselling services and rehabilitation activities to cancer sufferers as well as raise awareness on cancer symptoms, diagnosis and treatment besides promoting early cancer detection and screening.