5/27/2011
I had a rather fun time today. Fiji has implemented a program called the “Yellow Ribbon Project” to help inmates transition back into society. It involves the inmates, families, and communities working together. Today in Ba this program was started and we went to watch the ceremonies and performances. It was actually a lot of fun. The Fijian military band played and did some marching. The best part was that some inmates from the Ba prison did a traditional Fijian warrior dance and some other dances. Then, they pulled four girl HELP volunteers, me included, out to dance in front of everyone. That is the second time I have danced in Fiji now, which is two more times than I have done it in the USA. Fiji does odd things to me. It was great fun though. A simple Fiji dance that I have done twice now is to do the train, switching directions a few times, and then everyone getting in a line and just doing a little stepping and then waving a hand in the air. I enjoyed it. The inmates were fun and the crowd loved seeing us white girls out there dancing.
5/29/2011
I really enjoyed yesterday. I went with five other HELP volunteers, Mallory, Thomas, Zac, Chanea Weller, and Natalie to Natadolo beach, which is between Nadi and Sigatoka where we met up with seven other volunteers who came later. We played on the beach by the Inter-Continental Resort, a super nice resort. I had a blast exploring the beach and body surfing. There were some great waves to body surf. It was so awesome. The whole day cost me $26.50 FJD so about $16 USD, not a bad day at all.. Then, we got back into Ba just as the sunset. We walked home and it started down pouring and the group I was with didn’t have a key so we took a shower in the rain, in our swimsuits while tossing a Frisbee around. The power also went out for about an hour. It was an adventure. The great thing about Fiji is that even when it rains it is warm. The rain water is warmer than our shower water.
I have a record for number of people in a taxi. I was in a 5-seater taxi with 7 other people from the house into Ba Town, so about two miles maybe. I have been in a 16-seater minibus with 19 other adults. I need to count one time on a bus because I am pretty sure those go over the limit quite often, especially at night when people are trying to get home.
Transportation in Fiji is an adventure. I rode in a carrier yesterday from where the bus dropped us off down to the beach. A carrier is a small, little 2-seater pick-up that has a canopy-type cover over the top of the bed, with wooden benches that line the two sides. I think I have now been in every type of vehicle that is used for transportation here in Fiji. I have used the taxi, the mini-bus, regular bus, express bus, and a carrier. The regular and express buses are the same is style. Express buses are quicker because they don’t usually stop in between towns. Regular buses will stop anytime a passenger pulls the cord to ring the bell. The buses vary in comfort and style though. Some just have wooden benches with a little padding, other have individual seats with higher back rests. The bus we traveled in from Lautoka to Natadola was super nice and new, had air conditioning and played a movie for us. Almost all the buses play music. Most bus drivers mixed cds that usually have the same 10-15 songs. My theme song for this summer is “Fireworks” by R. Kelly. I usually hear it playing at least twice a day and sometimes more. Brandi had one of the bus drivers burn her a copy of his cd and “Fireworks” was every other track just remixed a little differently each time. Here in Fiji they play American music but usually they songs are remixed with some cool beats. I have heard quite a few Celine Dion songs remixed, although they usually play hip-hop and the closest they get to country is Taylor Swift. I want to get the “Fireworks” song. If the bus driver has the radio on then there is a little more variety in the music.
I can’t believe I am 22 years old and I got to celebrate my birthday in Fiji. A few of the girls in the house put together a nice, small celebration for me. Instead of making me a cake they made me a fruit plate. It was perfect and totally fit me. One reason they didn’t make a cake is because we don’t have an oven and I also mentioned that I prefer fruit to cake so it all worked out. They also requested that our cook, Miya, make fried rice for dinner because I really like it and she did. During Sunday School I went to the front of the room while they sang “Happy Birthday” to me. The Fijians have a second verse that says “Happy long life to you” that goes to the same tune as “Happy Birthday.” It was a great birthday. I enjoyed relaxing and chillin. It was nice of Lex Hatch and Brandi and the others to get me the fruit and ask Miya to cook something I like.
5/30/2011
I went with two other HELP volunteers to FRIEND Fiji today. FRIEND Fiji is a local ngo that goes to villages around Lautoka and Ba to help these communities develop plans to improve. FRIEND teaches about six modules on community governance that includes doing a needs assessment, prioritizing needs, then planning the steps it will take to help lower the needs. Usually FRIEND will start with the easiest or simplest need and work towards the hardest one so that villages can see improvement. The village we went to was doing community rubbish clean up. They have burn piles for the burnable rubbish and pits for metal and glass. We helped pick up a bit around the settlements and also see how their trash system was working. Some had made rubbish piles right by the river which is not good because it can get in there because the soil erodes, the bank collapses and the rubbish ends up in the water.
5/31/2011
I taught my third computer skills class at Koroipita today. It went well. We had the ladies go onto “paint” and just play around because some of them really struggle with controlling the mouse. A few are very quick learners and do well with the stuff we are teaching them but others are very slow learners and can’t even keep up when we only teach a few new things a day.
The budgeting class was a littler smaller today but still great because I could spend more one on one time with them. We went over how to find out yearly income based off of how much they made monthly or weekly. I would ask them how to find out the yearly income if they made $150 weekly and had to explain that you multiply it by 52. Some of them struggled with this concept but I think by the end of the session they understood more. It is hard to give examples because I am still figuring out the amount of money to work with. Some of these women have a husband who makes $80 FJD a week and that is their total income for their family. That translates to an income of about $2500 USD a year. Granted their standard of living is a lot lower than in America it is still crazy to think I make more doing a summer job than they do in a year. It puts things in perspective. I hope these budgeting classes help them know how to use their money wisely.
6/5/2011
I could fall from 10,000 feet above earth at 120 mph every day. It is so amazing to see the earth from up there and then to come dropping down and have the parachute come out and float down the rest of the way. It is completely awesome and just incredible. I loved every second of it; the plane ride up and amazing view, the 30 second free fall, the five minute parachute ride, the landing. It was just amazing. I wish it wasn’t so dang expensive so I could do it more often. I went with Rachel Anderson, Kerali, Sara Stanger, Alyssa Zundel, Rohit Chaudhary, and Brandi. We stayed the night in a hostel by Smuggler’s Cove in Nadi the night before. Then we sky dived Saturday morning and early afternoon. I paired up with Alyssa and she was the first one out of the little plane and I dropped ten seconds later with my partner. It was such a blast. I had a permanent smile the entire plane ride, sky dive, and landing. My cheeks started quivering ten minutes into the plane ride. Afterwards we all went to Denerau Island, a touristy place to eat at LuLu’s. I spent too much money on a really good burrito.
I continue to teach at Koroipita on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I really enjoy teaching the ladies. Some of them really enjoy the budgeting classes and the math that is involved. I hope they use the knowledge to help themselves out. With development work, especially sustainable work, you don’t always get to see right off the fruits of your labor. You just have to have faith that what you are doing is making a positive difference in at least one person’s life. It can be overwhelming realizing how much work has to do done and knowing that you won’t be able to do all of it or even a small portion of it. That being said, you can always make a difference if you try hard enough. Someone is always looking for help and sometimes you’re the help they need.

6/7/2011
We are partnering with an organization called Pacific Counseling and Social Services (PCSS) now. I am starting to work on several projects with them. One includes cataloging their resources. They do a lot of community and village outreach. Instead of having their resources, programs, and modules in a central location where all can access it on a shared drive, each individual will make their own presentation on each topic. I am helping them organize all this material onto a shared drive so they can spend less time preparing and more time doing outreach.
I taught at Koroipita today. The computer classes are going well. It is still very frustrating sometimes but rewarding at the same time. I am really learning how to simplify things I already thought were simple. I hope that the women are internalizing the knowledge I am giving them.
6/12/2011
This week went by so fast. I can’t believe it is Sunday already. I helped with a medical screening at Koroipita on Wednesday. A few of the HELP volunteers are medical students and wanted to get some experience. I helped record data while the other HELP volunteers checked their blood pressure, blood sugar level, calculated their BMI, and gave basic advice on their health based off this information. Diabetes is a big problem in Fiji. There were about 50 people who came to the health screening. Quite a few of them had high blood pressure. Of course the HELP volunteers weren’t doctors so they couldn’t diagnose the people but would strongly advise them to seek medical help if they had high blood pressure or stuff.
Zac and I taught at Koroipita on Thursday and then right after that we met up with other HELP volunteers in Lautoka to head to Suva for the weekend to visit the temple. A five hour bus ride later (that distance-wise was only about 140 km), we get to Suva. Suva is a lot different than Ba or Lautoka. It is actually a small city. Walking in neighborhoods in Suva is like walking in neighborhoods in a place like La or as one of the other volunteers said like being in Miami. In Ba everything closes at 6 when it gets dark. In Suva things are still happening when it is dark and stores are open. It just has a different feel to it than Ba.
I had an awesome weekend in Fiji. We stayed right across the parking lot from the Suva temple in temple housing. On Friday we spent the day in downtown Suva going to the flea market and doing some shopping for legit Fijian souvenirs. That evening we went to an YSA dance, I know I seem be involved in a lot of dances in Fiji.
Saturday was once of my favorite days I have had in Fiji. The morning started off awesome because I got to do baptisms in the temple. It had been two months since I had last gone to the temple which was the longest amount of time not going to temple for close to two years. It felt so great to been in the temple. After the temple we went to Colo, Suva to hike to some waterfalls and go swimming in the pools below them. It was one of the most gorgeous hikes I have ever been on if not the most gorgeous. The trail just followed a river as it descended down a mountain. There were close to 15 waterfalls, most of them about 10-15 tall. It was so beautiful. The forest was so luscious, green, and pristine. I loved it. I got to swim in refreshingly cool water. The hike was just awe-inspiring. After hiking at Colo, Suva we went to dinner at a missionary couple’s house. Kerali, a HELP volunteer, knows them from back home and they invited us to dinner. We had taco salad and I loved the beef. I don’t get much meat here, a little chicken, a little fish, and some canned mutton every once in a while. I am missing beef and red meat.
6/13/2011
It was a national holiday today in Fiji so we didn't work. Instead we went to the Ba ward's family fun day. I had a blast. We played some games, like eat a cream bun as fast as possible, sack races, and carve the coconut as fast as possible.I finally got to play some good games of ultimate frisbee. The Fijians had a fun time learning it although at times they didn't quite understand the no running with the frisbee rule but they figured it out eventually. We also watched a rugby game between Ba and Tavua. Rugby is a rough game. There were a few punches thrown, a guy came off bleeding profusely, and several tackles just looked painful.