Bula! My name is Callie and I have just completed my final year at the University of Southampton, studying BSc Geography. Part of the reason why I have always been so interested in Geography is because of the diversity of different cultures that exists between countries, which drew me towards Think Pacific after discovering it during my final year at sixth form, but unfortunately all placements in 2020 and 2021 were cancelled due to the pandemic.
In my first year of university, I was selected for a virtual internship where I created a climate change policy for Think Pacific, particularly focusing on the increasing levels of threat that Fiji faces from extreme weather events due to global warming. After completing this internship, it was clear to see the dedication everyone at Think Pacific has to helping people in remote Fijian communities while following Fiji’s National Development Plan, and I wanted to personally contribute to this movement.
This year, I was fortunate enough to be invited to the 24th June Youth Empowerment Project with the support from the University of Southampton Study Abroad team, who are partners with Think Pacific. The journey from my house in England to the hostel we were staying at for the first two nights of the project was around 2 days, by far the longest travel time I’ve ever had. I am proud of being able to travel alone to the other side of the world, but it was very overwhelming and I landed at 5am ready to start the first day at 8am, feeling exhausted was an understatement! The hostel we stayed in for the first two nights was quiet and peaceful with a beautiful sandy beach, and during these two days we had our project briefing and did icebreaker activities together, which was great to help everyone get to know each other.
When we arrived at Naselai village, lots of the villagers came running up to greet us and were so friendly, which helped alleviate the feelings of homesickness I was having. We all then gathered in the village hall and had a kava sevusevu (welcome) ceremony (Kava or grog is a popular drink in Fiji made by pounding a sun-dried kava root and mixing it with water. It tasted about the same as how it looks in my opinion, but a lot of other people liked it). We were then told the families we would be staying with, and my Fijian family were some of the friendliest and loveliest people I have ever met, and took me and my ‘sister’ Lucy in immediately and made us feel like part of the family.
Fijian village life is drastically different to that of the UK, but I adapted faster than I thought I would. My Na (Fijian mum) cooked delicious food and made up an extra room for us to stay. The showers were a bucket with a small tap outdoors, and as someone who feels the cold very easily they were a little harder for me to get used to!
The project was set up so that we would create workshops to present to the Fijian youth of the village (aged 18-35) in the morning, and they would do the same for us in the afternoon. These were on a range of topics; the workshop I presented was on the Environment and Climate, following on from my internship. The topics that the Fijian youth all taught us were centralised around their culture, including mat weaving, family history, and making a traditional Fijian dessert made of cassava, lovo and sugar which tastes like mochi but a lot sweeter.
It’s not uncommon due to the change in diet and culture for a lot of people to get sick, and unfortunately our group was no exception. By the end of the first week the majority of us had caught a nasty vomiting bug and I felt really bad because I missed a couple of the workshops and couldn’t keep any of my Na’s food down 🙁
A highlight of my time in Naselai was our free day on Saturday, where the villagers took us on a boat ride on the coast and we all swam in the sea. I’ve never seen such clear water in my life, and it was so blue and warm 😊
Sadly, I started feeling worse and worse and had to leave early, which I was so sad about but knew it was the right decision. I later found out that I had pneumonia, which was very scary being so sick when I was so far from home but I’m so thankful for the time I did have working in Fiji and having the opportunity to meet so many amazing people. The experience is not one I can fully put into words; it was the craziest but most memorable 12 days of my life.
Sota tale (see you later), Naselai <3