Bula! Things here in Fiji are
crazy on so many levels! Crazy fun, crazy busy, crazy sunny, crazy beautiful. I
wish I could just transport you all here! I will start you off with one of the
coolest experiences of the week: teaching in the villages. In the villages I
have the opportunity to teach the villagers CPR and basic first aid. I am also
going to work on supplying the village health workers with better supplies for
emergencies. See each village has this health worker that one could compare to
an EMT or nurse, and it turns out they don’t have basics such as antibiotic
ointment or butterfly bandages. If villagers don’t have access to such supplies
then the likelihood of a wound becoming infected increases. I feel that this
project is worthwhile and I am excited about working on it.
To better describe the experience of traveling into the
village I want to include my feelings that I recorded while taking the bus ride
to Tavua. This comes from my little purple notebook that I carry with me
everywhere:
“I couldn’t be happier right now. I don’t know what it is.
Maybe it is because I finally know what I am doing here or because I had a
great workout this morning. But I’m just so happy. Right now I’m on a huge
rickety bus with tons of locals traveling to Tavua. Bollywood music is playing
from the Indo-Fijian driver’s stereo and the most beautiful green island
scenery surrounds me on all sides. It is a perfect Fiji moment. These bus trips
are like being on a safari ride with such new exciting things to see on all
sides. The drivers make the experience quite exciting, often soaring into
opposing traffic to pass a car ahead, avoiding head on collisions by merely
seconds. Somehow I do not fear for my life, instead I find comfort in knowing
this is just their way.
“Just when I though the ride couldn’t get better the bus
creeps up a hill at the same rickety pace of an old roller coaster climbing its
slope. At the top of the hill the beautiful South Pacific comes into sight and the
view is breathtaking. Not having the ability to instantly upload pictures and
statuses on Facebook gives each moment more meaning. You are not living so
others can envy you through pictures, but you are living for you. Not always
having a friend by your side intensifies these feelings. It is just you and
that moment in time. This is how life was meant to be lived. Besides, no
picture could capture the beauty and no words can describe this feeling: the
feeling of being so free, so detached, so happy.”
The rest of that day I spent teaching in the villages and
walking along muddy roads with cows, goats, and run down houses spotting the
scenery. I spent the evening with my hostess Irene. She is an Indo-Fijian and
is the founder of GOLD Foundation. GOLD Foundation is the reason we have the
awesome opportunity to come teach at these villages. The other participants and
I got to help prepare a delicious dinner with Irene. We cooked outside over the
fire and learned how to make roti bread. Yum. That night we stayed up a bit
longer and talked with Romaine, Irene’s husband. He told us about his crazy
days as a young man: selling marijuana and explosives and visiting all his many
girlfriends. Romaine is a crack up. He spoke about how he has changed and how
he loves Irene and his family. He told us of his grandparents eloping from
India to escape arranged marriages and coming to Fiji with hopes of a better
life. Instead they were enslaved. It was
fascinating speaking with Romaine. It is amazing how much you can learn from
someone. I love the people here so much.
Aside from traveling to the
villages I also got started on a project that I hope will really set sail. I am
creating a fitness program that can be easily implemented by the teachers at
the schools. My goal is to create a program that will motivate the children to
exercise through a school wide competition between the different classes. I
won’t bore you with the details but hopefully I will finish making my project
proposal tomorrow so that I can present it to the headmaster at Dalana Primary
School. I visited the school on Monday and gave a presentation on the
importance of fitness and nutrition and preventing non-communicable diseases.
The teachers received the information well. Then I taught them the Macarena.
They loved it, it was a blast being with them and I am looking forward to
working with them more to get this fitness program going.
Over this past weekend a smaller group of us traveled to
the Robinson Crusoe Island Resort. We took a 30 minute boat ride to the most
beautiful little island I have ever seen. Everything about this island was
picture perfect: hammocks cascading from palm trees, golden soft sand patterned
by sea shells and footprints, row boats lazily floating near the coast, and
tribal Fijian men awaiting our arrival. What’s not to love? That evening we ate
dinner that was cooked by fire rocks underground and dug up by our Fijian
tribal men. Dinner was accompanied by exotic music and fire dancers tattooed
with ancestral marks. The rest of the evening I spent dancing with a few off
duty fire dancers and women from the bar. Then my friend and I hung out with
some American boys who are currently studying in Australia. I drank kava, took
a walk on the beach, and layed out underneath the most beautiful blanket of
stars I have ever seen.
The next day I spent adventuring
with friends: snorkeling, kayaking, swimming, walking, eating, laying out, and
best of all enjoying the complimentary message that came with our stay. When it
was time to say goodbye I was quite sad, until I realized that the following
week would only bring new adventures :). I am so blessed.
Vinaka for reading!
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| Aren't I adorable riding that horse on the beach!? Okay, I didn't really get to ride it for very long because I told the Fijian man that I didn't have any money and he told me that I could go on free ride anyway. So I hopped on but then he told me that he wanted to take me away so it could be a free ride...so I hopped off. Haha, end of story. |
