Bula! I will be spending this summer in one of the most beautiful places on Earth, Fiji. Again, I am a Country Director for HELP International and will be responsible for overseeing about 24 volunteers who will set up development projects here. Our vision is to empower communities to help themselves by giving them training and resources to improve their lives. As a Country Director I mentor our volunteers in development practice. They are all college students and young professionals who will match their skills with needs that are expressed by the community.
After my incredible experience in Uganda last year, I knew I wanted to do this again. HELP has an incredible impact on the ground because we listen to the partner organizations we work with and generate the ideas for our projects from the people we serve. Even more, our volunteers’ lives are changed forever. They gain insight that if found only by living among another culture and working together. They also gain the skills and experience necessary to continue to be social entrepreneurs for the rest of their lives.
This summer my co-director is David. Him and I arrived in Fiji April 23rd. We have until May 6th to choose a village to work in, rent a home, hire a cook, buy beds and other supplies, and begin making partnerships and discussing possible projects.
In the few days I have been here I have fallen in love with Fiji and its people. I have never imaged a culture that is so communal and giving.
We are staying in a backpackers’ hostel in Suva. It is managed by a German guy who came to Fiji over 8 years ago and decided to stay. There is also a UK non-profit group called Frontier that is living in the hostel. David and I went out dancing with them on Friday night. From my time in Scotland, I know the British can drink. But, ten 19 year old girls from London on holiday right after high school graduation at a bar is always an astounding sight!
When we first arrived, we had meetings with our key partners, discussing our goals and how we may work together. They also gave us recommendations of towns we might want to be based in. One such town is Nasouri. We will be introduced to provincial leaders from Nasouri on Monday, but we decided to visit Nasouri on Friday to get a feel for the place. We started walking through town and through neighborhoods to see the type of houses we might be able to rent.
As we were walking, we came upon a house that had a sign advertising Yoga lessons and free meditation sessions. Intrigued, we approached the door, but as we did the next door neighbors got our attention and motioned us towards them. After explaining our organization and the fact that we were checking out houses in the area, they offered to search for housing for us and give us a call when they found something. They also sent us to a shop in town to inquire about a large house that was inhabited by only one man.
We never found that shop, but instead ran into a man and Isaiah. Isaiah is a tattered-looking fella. He is missing some teeth and has a full beard in mourning for his recently deceased father. In spite of his disconcerting appearance he was warm and friendly to a fault. Hearing of our mission, he showed us the back of his shop for us to stay in for free. It was a concrete block that bowed down in the middle. The windows where simply square holes in the walls, the wooden door was almost falling off its hinges, the shower and toilet were shared by the other three adjoining flats, and there was no kitchen . It was a humble, to say the least, but I was absolutely touched at his willingness to let us stay for free. If this was not spectacular enough, he invited us back to his village to show us the home his family lives in. He told us that if we liked that one better he would move out that very day and his family would stay somewhere else.
We tried our best to manage his overwhelming kindness and explain our mandate to find a house large enough for 17 Americans. But his persistence and our curiosity to see a traditional village won out and we were welcomed into his home.
He taught us the customs of village life. Some of which we had read about in travel books, and some that we surprises to us and likely slightly unique to his village. Men and women must wear a sulu (skirt), no sunglasses, no hats, you must hold your bags in your hands, you must immediately sit when entering a home, you can’t stand an walk directly across a room, etc. We sat attentively on mats, asking questions about these customs and learning appropriate greetings. If you know me at all, you know that I was full of questions and anecdotes. I thought it was curious that he would direct his responses to David. After some time, I asked if there was anything I should say differently when entering a home or greeting people as a women.
He simply said, “You should not say anything.”
I responded, “Ok, I won’t say anything differently”
“No” he clarified, “As a woman you should say as little as possible”
“Oh! Well I have talked a lot today, I will have to learn to be more quiet”
“That would be good.”
Needless to say, I think I will be learning a lot in Fiji!
Like in Provo everything shuts down in Suva (the capital) on Sunday. Unlike Provo, there is loud evangelical music bursting from churches that poka dot the city. With no work to do, David and I decide to take a bus to the beach. We knew there were tourist destinations in Navua, so we had the bus drop us off on the bridge by that town, and started walking in the direction of the sea. We barely reached town when we were flagged down by a round, friendly, barefoot man. He asked where were we going and informed us that there weren’t any nice beaches in that part. I think he felt bad for us, so he welcomed us inside and gave us a some kava (traditional drink made of root crop). He caught us a cab to Pacific Harbor and found us a beautiful beach.
