Bula-sia: Fiji was life transforming!

We went to Naboutini as part of a Service-Learning trip from our university. I was one of two faculty advisors to a group of 14 students. What we loved the most about Naboutini was the pace of life and community life. Their understanding of family, time, and community were transforming.
The memories I cherish the most were the times in which I would sit down by myself and friends from the village would come to sit with me. The first few days I felt the need to start a conversation (no one likes awkward silences). But they would not talk. They just wanted for us to be in each other's presence. By the time we were done there were times in which we would accompany each other for quite a while without saying a word. A different experience of freedom.
In Naboutini I learned a new way of being human by enjoying someone else's presence not by what they have to say but by simply being there!