Involvement Volunteers International (IVI)

I spent two weeks travelling around Fiji where I stayed in Lautoka, Suva, a village, and a resort - so lots of different accomodation styles. I was very lucky to have had such an amazing team to work with - they went from being a team of strangers, to becoming like a second family to me. We received training on how to perform blood pressure and blood sugar checks, and how to take height, weight, and waist measurements correctly. The first week of the project was spent living in a village. It was a huge culture shock at first, just a completely different way of living to what we have back home. But it was one of the highlights of my trip because never have I felt so welcomed, accepted, and taken care of by such lovely and friendly people.

Our host family were wonderful, making us feel so at home and giving us the opportunity to really immerse ourselves in the culture. I learnt so much from them - Fijian phrases, what they typically eat, how to tie a sulu correctly, their history, what a typical day in a village is like, the etiquette, etc. By the end of the stay I really did feel like a local. This was a truly eye opening and rewarding experience, being able to put a smile on each individual's face when we performed the health checks and knowing how much it meant to them was such an amazing experience to be apart of.

The second week of the project was spent at Nanuku resort. This was a completelty different contrast to what we had experienced the previous week. But again, just like the first week, we were warmly welcomed and just our presence was so highly regarded by the Fijian people. A highlight for me in this week was hearing how some of the ladies had consciously made the effort to increase their exercise and watch their sugar consumption, leading to lower weight and waist measurements which came primarily down to the fact that they had listened to our education talks the last time we had visited them. So hearing this only reinforced why this project is so worth becoming involved in, knowing that you truly are making small differences in peoples lives.

Kindy teaching project in the coral coast:

This project was so much fun. It gave me the opportunity to meet so many like minded people from different areas around the world. There was a lot more down time on this project which gave me more of a chance to do sightseeing and activities which I really enjoyed. I decided to do the cultural introduction week on my first week of this project, and it is safe to say I'm really glad I did! This would be the highlight of this project and I highly recommend it to anyone who is considering taking part in this - we got to visit a waterfall and swim in it, we hiked up Sigatoka sand dunes, we went to Maui bay, we did a cooking lesson on how to make some of the popular Fijian food, we did a Fijian language class, and we also learnt how to weave bracelets. I had the wonderful opportunity of teaching in the preschool and absolutely fell in love with the Fijian kids! It was so great to be able to help teach them to write and read, count their numbers, and learn the alphabet.

Mere and Masi were so lovely and welcoming. I was greeted at the airport by them and from day one they made me feel so at home and well looked after. They felt like my second set of parents and really took great care of all of us. I have a few dietary requirements and was worried that I wouldn't be able to eat much of the food - however, Mere made sure I was well catered for and there was always something for me to eat. The food on this project was amazing!! It was so fresh and very well cooked - you could tell a lot of time and effort had gone into preparing every lunch and dinner. I really enjoyed trying all the different Fijian food and actually feel in love with rourou (taro leaves stewed in coconut milk).

Carrun was an awesome coordinator - she always provided reassurance, support, and encouragement every step of the way, and never pushed you into doing something you didn't want to do (e.g. my downfall was taking blood pressure!) She made us feel really comfortable to communicate anything we were unsure of or if any issues arised we knew we could openly communicate to her about them. It was great to see her in her element, and seeing how passionate she was about the work she was doing reinforced why we were doing these health checks, and actually inspired me to want to do something similiar in years to come. It was really fun to work with her and I liked the balance between engaging in intense work, but also being able to share a laugh and debrief with her at the end of the days.

I taught English to people in a rehab center. My lessons were every morning from monday to thursday. I was able to choose the content of the lessons myself. They especially liked when I taught them songs with english lyrics. The people there were incredibly nice and grateful. I actually cried when saying goodbye. I had so much fun teaching English.

My host family became an actual family, I’ll never forget them. Food was delicious, I had lots of “Gallo Pinto”. My accommodation was nice as well, I even had a fan close to my bed.

We had a great team that worked very well together and supported each other. The experiences we had were amazing. It felt like a very worthwhile project where we were making a difference. We learnt that Fijians usually only seek medical assistance when something is going wrong. So the preventative checks that we were doing on blood pressure and blood sugar are usually neglected. The education side was also basic for us as Australians but was enlightening for the Fijians. We came across Fijians that had made a significant change in their lifestyle since the last team visited and can only assume that some significant changes would be made after our team's visit. We could see how lives could be saved as a result of this program.

We were fortunate to have a diverse set of experiences including visiting villages, visiting a primary school, visiting a high school and assessing the health of staff in a resort. I lead a couple of dances at the primary school which was a real highlight. Over our 2 weeks we circumnavigated the main island of Fiji, stayed in a village, visited a waterfall, were given a tour of a deep cave, participated in Kava ceremonies, watched fire walking and stayed in a resort.

The Fijian people were incredibly friendly, had a good sense of humour and were extremely thankful for our visit.

The local team of Masi, Mary and Lessie were amazing. They provided a necessary link between the volunteers and the Fijians as far as interpreters and our adherence to local customs. All were incredibly friendly and personable. They opened their home to us and drove us around in their cars. The food was excellent and catered to the different dietary requirements that existed in the team. The accommodation was all very good. Obviously in the village, the accommodation was a little more primitive (all of the team sleeping in one room and cold showers) but that was real and to be expected.

Carrun's concern for the Fijian people was obvious and she was particularly good at the relationships between the team and the various village or corporate leaders. She also cared for the team and kept us informed of upcoming requirements.

improvements...
1. From memory, the website seems to indicate a shorter work day than we actually experienced while on the team. We worked from 8:30ish to 4ish each day. We had read a review before leaving that had prepared us (but some of the other volunteers were not aware), but maybe the information on the website needs checking in this regard.
2. Before leaving I wasn't sure if there was going to be anything but young people on our team. We had a lovely mixture of young, middle aged and retired however, I didn't have this impression from the photos on your website. More encouragement of older volunteers and accompanying photos I think would be helpful as the experience of the older members of the team was invaluable.
3. We were made aware that there was a lot of data entry to be done for this project (and previous projects). We had people on the team expressing their willingness to contribute in this way but we only had the opportunity to make 3 or 4 entries in the end out of the hundreds (maybe even thousands) that needed to be done. An extra laptop or advice to bring a laptop for interested people may have facilitated this data entry.

My volunteering experience exceeded my expectations. It was so amazing and I highly recommend it to everyone. Being with the kids at the kindergarten was such a fun and rewarding experience where I learnt so much about the kids, Fijian culture and myself!
I met some absolutely incredible humans through this experience who now have become lifelong friends who I can’t wait to visit all over the world.

All the coordinators were so lovely and created such a welcoming environment. I really enjoyed the food, being vegetarian I was worried about the food situation but the coordinators were so accommodating and made an entirely vegetarian meal specifically for my cousin and I every day. The accommodation was also nice and comfortable.

This experience was a unique one that I never thought I would experience. As a group, we bonded and gained great insight into the public health situation in Fiji. Through this process, we felt welcomed, making a tangible impact on the communities and witnessing health outcomes we otherwise may never have seen. Through the 4 days we spent in the community, both remote and urban, we gained tangible skills from taking blood pressure to measuring blood glucose as well as communication and time management skills. One of the most memorable experiences was our stay at the farm, during which we experienced an authentic Fijian lifestyle that was unlike anything I'd experienced before. The people we met there were incredibly welcoming and grateful and overall, I would highly recommend this program. The local team were super helpful and welcoming. We had the pleasure of meeting Masi and Mere who went above and beyond to accommodate us, treating us as their own family. The home cooked meals were delicious and provided great insight the culture of the local people. Accommodation provided by the team was also comfortable and clean. Overall, a very positive experience.