Think Pacific is a small, ethical foundation that works in direct partnership with the Fijian Ministry to provide precise funding, specific planning and coherent support to impoverished parts of the Fiji Islands. This is conducted through well-structured, unique and challenging projects that focus around core aims such as primary and early years’ education, health, aid relief and sport, to achieve definitive development goals set, and monitored, by the Fijian Government in order to leave a sustainable impact on local communities.
In May 2018 I had the opportunity to join one of these projects where myself, and an incredible team of 21, were sent to Navaga Village, situated on the West coast of Koro Island. Like every project that TP plans we were the first, and more than likely the last, team Navaga will ever host, as we aimed to improve their academic primary education as well as introducing well-structured, effective and frequent PE lessons in the two local schools. This would be completed in such way that the teachers will be able to continue to diversify educational practices on the island once we were gone. We also worked to educate the locals of Navaga about health and safety through first aid training and planned talks about the impacts of an unhealthy lifestyle, to strive to achieve holistic health. Not only that, but we also had the aim to inspire and tutor some of the primary students who had fallen behind in the Fijian linear educational system.
I was volunteering in a local primary School, where a fellow volunteer and I were teaching classes and providing the one-on-one tutoring of students in the Kindi class; often the starting class of these kids’ education at the age of five. This was challenging due to the huge language barrier - the Kindi kids had only just started to be taught in English - but after the first few days we began to settle and develop different and effective techniques to communicate with the 13 children and to deliver 5 key aims. This, as well as the tutoring being provided in the other primary years (as the rest of the team were doing) meant that we were able to contribute to the 180,000+ hours of educational support given to struggling students that Think Pacific has managed to achieve across the Fiji Islands, which in turn has resulted in a 40% improvement in literacy (Summer 2016) and around a 15% increase in school attendance.
In a country where sport can unite the nation, the PE lessons in schools are often only once a week and incredibly unorganised. We aimed to introduced a whole host of sports in daily, hour long, structured PE lessons to increase the students' confidence on the sports field and possibly in the classroom. Coaching cricket to some of the Kade School kids was a first for all of them, as they had never played the sport before. We brought over with us sports equipment and lesson plans used to conduct these sessions which were then donated to the school, allowing the teachers to continue such lessons once we were gone.
Whilst volunteering in Kade School, the impacts of cyclone Winston which had previously devastated the island were still largely evident. In February 2016, the most intense tropical storm ever recorded in the Southern Hemisphere hit Fiji and destroyed thousands of homes and schools, leaving Koro Island in a fragile social, economic and environmental state. Two years on from this natural disaster, the Head Master of Kade Primary School was still living in an emergency aid provided tent, and Kindi and years 7+8 were still being taught in temporary structures. Think Pacific, working alongside the Fijian government adapts to such scenarios by not only working to improve educational infrastructure through groups such as our own, but further provides assistance in the rebuilding of teaching facilities on islands like Koro, and get the basic school supplies to remote villages after natural disasters occur.
The entire time out there, a fellow volunteer and I lived with with a crazy but wonderful family of 6, who have now become our second family. We got to immerse ourselves in the Navaga lifestyle and culture, enjoying traditional foods and drink as well as feeling the full effects of Kava, Fiji’s national drink (give it a google), whilst also attending local church services and playing a lot of touch rugby. It just happened to be the end of World Rugby Sevens competition while we were out there; watching England quite possibly ruin Fiji’s chances to win the Series on one of very few TVs in the village in a room filled with locals was an interesting experience to say the least.
After project, I was very hesitant to post anything of my time in Fiji on social media due to the term ‘voluntourism’ being increasingly apparent in our day and age, and am very aware that posts of volunteer work can very easily be misinterpreted. However, after my time with Think Pacific I felt the need to post, to let my friends and family know about this amazing charity and the extent to which they are so far from the phrase ‘voluntourism;’ as they work incredibly hard to leave a long lasting, sustainable impact, not just on the areas they send their projects to, but on the entire of the Fijian Islands. Think Pacific is different because they really do ‘break the mould of the big international volunteer companies.’
