Fiji

I've recently returned from my placement in Fiji which involved working with a rural village on the remote island of Batiki in the Lomaviti Province. As I had no internet access there, I will use this time to update the world on my experience in Yavu Village...

So, after two days of travelling to the furthest corner of the world, I finally arrived in Nadi airport at 5am on the 16th February. The heat hit me immediately and I knew from that point working conditions were going to be tough.

Another four hour bus journey and we arrived in Suva town centre where the volunteer expedition began. Suva town wasn't a big crowded city town centre as I had imagined, it had the basics such as supermarkets and the occasional cafe but the majority of the town was made up of traditional local markets for fruit and vegetables. There were several textile markets also which were focused around traditional masi printed fabrics and the more adapted factory produced version ready to be used as formal Fijian sulu dress, after a quick snack and an hour or so of free time to pick up some appropriate dress for the village and we were off again.

A rough two hour boat ride later and we arrived at our castaway island for our team briefing on Caqalai island. The island was beautiful, exactly as you would picture paradise. The island is part of the Moturiki district and owned by the Ratu from Nuibasaga. It was completely remote and only took fifteen minutes to walk completely around it. The cabins were timber wood with open windows and doors, the phrase of which I heard over and over again when I received a briefing in Leeds 'Fijian doors are always open' was starting to become more clear to me now, literally the doors were always open.

The first night, because we were staying on an island owned by the Ratu it was customary to performa a Sevu Sevu in Neuibasaga the chiefly village. This is a a type of welcoming ceremony to show gratitude and respect. The Sevu Sevu consisted of presenting the village with a bundle of Kava roots and they responded with many prayers and hymns followed by drinking of grog (produced from Kava roots) and then a traditional hop hop party took place which is a traditional Fijian dance used in weddings and other religious and celebratory occasions.

17th February 2012

Today the ministry of health came across to Caqalai to give us a briefing/ pep talk to get us ready for action when entering the village. It was fair to say after the meeting we were all raring to go full of entusiasm for the good we will be doing over the next month.
He explained to us the conditions of the village and just what to expect really, looking back it was really helpful to have a 'heads up' on the island before actually entering the village itself.

• 72 people living in Yavu
• 21 families
• Houses are made from tin and concrete
• Bucket showers and pit toilets

Below is our team, the ministry of health along with the press decided to publish our photograph and our group volunteer story in the popular Fiji magazine, 'Mai Life'!

February 18th

The aim of the day was to get together and talk about the different options available during the expedition and which team member wanted to do each activity. We then took a last minute trip to Levuka which is Fiji's old captial, it was very rustic island and looked like something out of an old western movie. On the night time we went back to Caqalai and a birthday party was thrown for myself, as my 21st birthday was lost in the time difference on the plane journey over! I was presented with a traditional Fijian birthday cake with my Fijian name on, a flag and bula skirt.

February 19th

Today was our last day before heading over our volunteer island, we took a team walk over to a tiny island that was just a raised sand bank with palm trees in the middle of the ocean. It took about forty minutes to walk there and we were all surprised how big it was when we arrived! The island was filled with all sorts of creatures including  the most poisonous creature in Fiji the sea snake. I was amazed to see that the locals on Caqalai were just picking them up and were not showing any fear. It just shows how accustomed you can become to  your environment. 

February 20th

Today we took another 3 hour boat ride and arrived on the remote island of Batiki. We had a massive warm welcome into Yavu Village, everyone was so exited that the Think Pacific team had chosen their village to volunteer. We presented a massive bunch of Kava roots the the village and had a sevu ceremony before being introduced to the family each of us were staying with. 

First impressions of walking into my new Fijian home, the houses were all small and mostly tin with shutter windows. My family had three sections to their house, the kitchen area which had storage for pots and pans and a large log stove. There was the bedroom area where myself and another volunteer, my Fijian mum Ako, Dad Sereli and brother Netani all slept in one room. 

I was beginning to see the kind and welcoming nature of the village and the natural culture of the Fijians. Later that night after a welcoming feast and lots of hop hop and grog, I went to my new home and rested for the days ahead of me.

February 21st

I woke extremely early the following day in Yavu Village. The Fijian women were up at 4.30am preparing breakfast whilst the men where fishing and collecting wood.

The purpose of the day was to discuss and run through each of the projects to be completed during our time in Yavu. We spent the day exploring the village, sorting out facilities and took a visit to Batiki District School.

The school was very basic, there were four classrooms for 8 classes and only 2 teachers at times. Facilities were basic, the desks were very old fashioned and there were few of them, most students completed their work lying on the floor infront of the blackboard. I was pleasantly surprised to find al lot of colour around the classrooms though, mostly numbers and phrases in English there was quite a lot of religious christian icons also.

On the night we participated in an artistic night of mat weaving with our families, which consists of using dried out palm leaves and using an up and down weave technique to create a variety of different materials such as mats, baskets, flooring and decorative items too. The technique was hard to grasp and quite fiddly but soon as I got the pattern going it became very addictive.

Moce

An incredible team say ‘moce’ to Batiki Island

Yavu Final Weeks

This week saw the team in full flow on the school, kindi, the building project and also sports coaching. Having completed most of the heavy ground work on the build, it was now time to start building the timber frame. Much to the delight of the team this was completed by Monday afternoon which meant by Tuesday the roofing irons were fitted and the build was really starting to take shape. The rest of the week was spent walling the outside of the toilet block and fitting the toilets and water supply. Again with the teams great work rate almost everything was completed by the end of the week and so on Monday it was time for the paint brushes to come out. Looking at the completed toilet block it’s hard to believe most of the people who built it have never worked on a building site before or barely held a hammer in their hands so it’s a real credit to them the standard of work which they have left in especially Charlie, Jack and Casper who have dedicated all their time on project to the build!

A few of the team then had some different ideas for a logo to paint on the side of the building to give it that personal touch so the village stepped in and picked their favourite from a few different designs sketched by the team. In the end it was Charlotte’s design which was chosen with Maggies incorporated into it. Everyone then came together on Thursday to watch the girls draw on their designs and help in whatever way they could. As it turned out we have some very talented painters in our team and the end result was truly amazing which you can see from some of our pictures.

Having set a very high standard in the first rota our new teachers of Jamie, Charlotte and Oonagh had a challenge on their hands when they took over in school for the final rota. A challenge which everyone met head on and after the first day had included some of their own ideas into every subject! Headmaster Pate was absent for a few days which saw Charlotte move from classes 5&6 into 3&4 alongside Jamie to teach on their own. They both truly enjoyed the freedom as did the kids. Also introduced this week was the public speaking element of the house cup. Some great speeches, poems and passages from the bible were chosen for the kids to recite in the last week at the house cup final. Having clearly enjoyed his first week teaching in school Ben then made his way back to school in the afternoon this week to help the kids of Batkik District School in the homework club which runs from 5 to 6pm. These are the things that make such a huge difference to the children’s learning and helps improve their English so much.

The team also chose songs to teach each school house for the final showdown in the last week with ‘we will rock you’ and ‘eye of the tiger’ chosen it meant the noise coming from the classrooms could be heard all over Batiki. The entire school, teachers, team and most of the village then gathered in Yavu hall to watch the kids perform and they were not disappointed. When the points were totalled and the results of the house sports included it was Vonu who came out on top to claim the Think Pacific Batiki House Cup.

One of the hardest but ultimately most rewarding elements of project has to be kindi. When we first go in there the children are unsure of our team and there is the obvious language barrier so gaining the trust and confidence of a group of 3 and 4 year olds may seem almost impossible. If you were to walk into Yavu kindi now when any of our team were in there teaching you would think they had been looking after these children for months. Some of them wouldn’t even sit beside the team when we first started on this project and to watch them now climbing all over our volunteers and the improvement in their English speaking would almost bring a tear to your eyes. Its without doubt that Grace, Tanita, Maggie, Oonagh and Charlotte will be forever remembered in Yavu kindi.

Although a month may seem like a long time to those of you at home, when our team are in the village it passes by so quickly so they don’t want to miss any opportunity to experience all aspects of village life. None more so than night spear fishing which some of the team even overcame fears to take part in, they will all tell you it was worthwhile as this is a truly amazing experience. Especially when you get to watch some of the Fijian boys free dive to depths of 15meters and disappear under a huge coral only to reappear with a huge fish on the end of their spear gun.

As you can see from the pictures Batiki is a beautiful island and some of the views are breathtaking so our team decided to try and get a better look by trekking up to the highest points on both sides of the island, one of which is called first rock where they also got to experience a beautiful sunset. Another highlight is when all the village come together for any social gathering and none more so than when the team organised a village fun day to raise money for the people of Yavu. With a coconut shire, penalty shoot out and many more stalls in place the kids and even the older members of the village had an excellent day which was topped off when our girls picked some of the guys and dressed them up in their clothes for a fashion show in the hall. This was met with roars of laughter and cheers from everyone as the boys put on a show worthy of any Milan catwalk.

Going into the last few days there is a real mixed feeling of sadness at having to leave what our team think of as home and a joy at what they have achieved and the difference they have made to the lives of the people of Yavu in such a short space of time. So it was no surprise that the farewell church service was an emotional one with a few of the team saying thank you to the village and special mentions to those who have helped make this such an unforgettable experience. After service it was time for the official opening of the toilet block which was carried out by the chief of neighbouring island Nairi. Everyone then gathered in the hall for what was an unbelievable feast before the familiar sound of kava being pounded was ringing out around the village. In true Fijian style the guitars were then pulled out and what turned out to be a 9 hour hop hop session started.

Then came the saddest part of any expedition when everyone gathered in the hall for one last goodbye and a farewell hymn from the village which had the whole team in tears. As we slowly made our way onto the boats it was clear to see that not only will our team never forget the time they spent on Batiki but that Batiki will never forget the Think Pacific February 2012 team!

This week saw the team in full flow on the school, kindi, the building project and also sports coaching. Having completed most of the heavy ground work on the build, it was now time to start building the timber frame. Much to the delight of the team this was completed by Monday afternoon which meant by Tuesday the roofing irons were fitted and the build was really starting to take shape. The rest of the week was spent walling the outside of the toilet block and fitting the toilets and water supply. Again with the teams great work rate almost everything was completed by the end of the week and so on Monday it was time for the paint brushes to come out. Looking at the completed toilet block it’s hard to believe most of the people who built it have never worked on a building site before or barely held a hammer in their hands so it’s a real credit to them the standard of work which they have left in especially Charlie, Jack and Casper who have dedicated all their time on project to the build!

A few of the team then had some different ideas for a logo to paint on the side of the building to give it that personal touch so the village stepped in and picked their favourite from a few different designs sketched by the team. In the end it was Charlotte’s design which was chosen with Maggies incorporated into it. Everyone then came together on Thursday to watch the girls draw on their designs and help in whatever way they could. As it turned out we have some very talented painters in our team and the end result was truly amazing which you can see from some of our pictures.

Having set a very high standard in the first rota our new teachers of Jamie, Charlotte and Oonagh had a challenge on their hands when they took over in school for the final rota. A challenge which everyone met head on and after the first day had included some of their own ideas into every subject! Headmaster Pate was absent for a few days which saw Charlotte move from classes 5&6 into 3&4 alongside Jamie to teach on their own. They both truly enjoyed the freedom as did the kids. Also introduced this week was the public speaking element of the house cup. Some great speeches, poems and passages from the bible were chosen for the kids to recite in the last week at the house cup final. Having clearly enjoyed his first week teaching in school Ben then made his way back to school in the afternoon this week to help the kids of Batkik District School in the homework club which runs from 5 to 6pm. These are the things that make such a huge difference to the children’s learning and helps improve their English so much.

The team also chose songs to teach each school house for the final showdown in the last week with ‘we will rock you’ and ‘eye of the tiger’ chosen it meant the noise coming from the classrooms could be heard all over Batiki. The entire school, teachers, team and most of the village then gathered in Yavu hall to watch the kids perform and they were not disappointed. When the points were totalled and the results of the house sports included it was Vonu who came out on top to claim the Think Pacific Batiki House Cup.

One of the hardest but ultimately most rewarding elements of project has to be kindi. When we first go in there the children are unsure of our team and there is the obvious language barrier so gaining the trust and confidence of a group of 3 and 4 year olds may seem almost impossible. If you were to walk into Yavu kindi now when any of our team were in there teaching you would think they had been looking after these children for months. Some of them wouldn’t even sit beside the team when we first started on this project and to watch them now climbing all over our volunteers and the improvement in their English speaking would almost bring a tear to your eyes. Its without doubt that Grace, Tanita, Maggie, Oonagh and Charlotte will be forever remembered in Yavu kindi.

Although a month may seem like a long time to those of you at home, when our team are in the village it passes by so quickly so they don’t want to miss any opportunity to experience all aspects of village life. None more so than night spear fishing which some of the team even overcame fears to take part in, they will all tell you it was worthwhile as this is a truly amazing experience. Especially when you get to watch some of the Fijian boys free dive to depths of 15meters and disappear under a huge coral only to reappear with a huge fish on the end of their spear gun.

As you can see from the pictures Batiki is a beautiful island and some of the views are breathtaking so our team decided to try and get a better look by trekking up to the highest points on both sides of the island, one of which is called first rock where they also got to experience a beautiful sunset. Another highlight is when all the village come together for any social gathering and none more so than when the team organised a village fun day to raise money for the people of Yavu. With a coconut shire, penalty shoot out and many more stalls in place the kids and even the older members of the village had an excellent day which was topped off when our girls picked some of the guys and dressed them up in their clothes for a fashion show in the hall. This was met with roars of laughter and cheers from everyone as the boys put on a show worthy of any Milan catwalk.

Going into the last few days there is a real mixed feeling of sadness at having to leave what our team think of as home and a joy at what they have achieved and the difference they have made to the lives of the people of Yavu in such a short space of time. So it was no surprise that the farewell church service was an emotional one with a few of the team saying thank you to the village and special mentions to those who have helped make this such an unforgettable experience. After service it was time for the official opening of the toilet block which was carried out by the chief of neighbouring island Nairi. Everyone then gathered in the hall for what was an unbelievable feast before the familiar sound of kava being pounded was ringing out around the village. In true Fijian style the guitars were then pulled out and what turned out to be a 9 hour hop hop session started.

 

Then came the saddest part of any expedition when everyone gathered in the hall for one last goodbye and a farewell hymn from the village which had the whole team in tears. As we slowly made our way onto the boats it was clear to see that not only will our team never forget the time they spent on Batiki but that Batiki will never forget the Think Pacific February 2012 team!

Photo Update

March 22nd, 2012

Gap year photos from Fiji!

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