The beautiful coral coast of Fiji

A 3-day meeting in Naviti Resort last week once again gave me the chance to connect with the Pacific Ocean. Every morning a one-hour brisk walk along the coral coast beach not only helped me to keep up with my fitness regime and reflect but also appreciate the abundance of natural beauty that Fiji has to offer!

We must have driven over 50 times along the Queens road in the last four years, each time I learn something new. This time round, a colleague gave an insight into the cultural norms and communities/ villages on the Queens road. On the other hand meal-time conversations were equally enlightening - got acquainted with some of the defining rules of marriage in Fijian culture and a few terms such as 'vuda' means land; 'viseisei' literally means 'spread out' but according to a senior colleague it is composed of two words 'visei' means 'to fight' and 'sei' means 'spread/ disperse'. So I would try to interpret the meaning as 'to conquer the land and spread the community further on the land'. This is the beauty of our lifestyle of working in different places - learn something new everyday!

One small Step towards 'Equity and Education'

Informal education can be very effective and interesting is well expressed in the photos here. SI Suva organised a workshop in the Laqere settlement area with around 25 women. We had two main session - one on Health (concentrated on HIV Aids through a woman's perspective) and another one on Microfinance. The attention span of this group of women was amazing - one of the most eager bunch of learners I have come across. Lots of tears, lots of laughter, lots of information and lots of question in just a 2-hour session - It was an extremely satisfying experience. Like I said during my talk on 'Insight into SI' that one should engage in community work because it gives you immense happiness and you feel your time and energy well spent! Give it a try and experience the joy of community service!!