Anyway, here are some pictures:
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Suva!
I went to Suva this weekend with Mallory, another volunteer, to do some work in the deaf schools. I went for the weekend and had an amazing time! Suva is about a 6 hour bus ride from Ba and it’s kind of the devil to get there but definitely worth it. Ba is so small, it was a little weird to be in an actual city. Suva is beautiful though and right on the water. I went to a handicraft market and got a cool bracelet, went to the temple, ate lunch on the waterfront, got 50 cent ice cream, learned the alphabet in Fiji Sign Language (it’s completely different from ASL – it uses two hands instead of one), got my very own name sign, went to a church dance (yeah….2 ½ hours long. Let’s not talk about it.), went to both an English ward and a Fijian ward (where I didn’t understand a single thing), wandered around the USP campus, and helped at a activity/sports day for all the local special education and deaf schools. All in all it was a great weekend. It was nice to be able to take a break from the routine in Ba and to be in a house with only 5 other people! I also got to try a lot more Fijian food – which I think I might like more than Indian food (minus the fish).
Anyway, here are some pictures:
Anyway, here are some pictures:
Ba, Koroipita, and Tavua Carnival
Here’s good ol’ Ba town. Try not to be too jealous. It’s such a happening place….it completely shuts down at about 6:00. I go into town to buy groceries and to take buses/mini buses other places. That’s about it.
I went to Koroipita last week with Stefka to help teach computer and business classes. Koroipita is a model community that rents houses for $1 a day to people who can’t afford to own their own homes. Hundreds of people apply to live there. Anyway, the computer classes were so interesting because a lot of them have never even touched a computer before. Teaching them how to coordinate the mouse and everything can be a challenge. They tend to freak out whenever they get any unexpected whatsoever. A typical solution in Fiji is to just turn off the computer and start over. Here’s a picture of their little computer room:
The Tavua carnival was last week (July 6-9) and it was the big fundraiser for the Gold Foundation. It started on a Thursday but I don’t think all the booths were set up until about Friday afternoon. Typical Fiji! Anyway, they had a stage and entertainment every night. Some of the HELP volunteers performed (I luckily dodged that bullet by having no performable talents!) and there were lots of dancing numbers from local schools/church groups. They even had a couple rides set up – you know, those big blow up contraptions that kids can climb around, the shiftiest version of a rocket ride I’ve ever seen (kind of like Dumbo in Disneyland…but only in terms of general concept), and a fast ferris wheel. I opted out of any of the mentioned death traps. But here are some pictures!
I went to Koroipita last week with Stefka to help teach computer and business classes. Koroipita is a model community that rents houses for $1 a day to people who can’t afford to own their own homes. Hundreds of people apply to live there. Anyway, the computer classes were so interesting because a lot of them have never even touched a computer before. Teaching them how to coordinate the mouse and everything can be a challenge. They tend to freak out whenever they get any unexpected whatsoever. A typical solution in Fiji is to just turn off the computer and start over. Here’s a picture of their little computer room:
The Tavua carnival was last week (July 6-9) and it was the big fundraiser for the Gold Foundation. It started on a Thursday but I don’t think all the booths were set up until about Friday afternoon. Typical Fiji! Anyway, they had a stage and entertainment every night. Some of the HELP volunteers performed (I luckily dodged that bullet by having no performable talents!) and there were lots of dancing numbers from local schools/church groups. They even had a couple rides set up – you know, those big blow up contraptions that kids can climb around, the shiftiest version of a rocket ride I’ve ever seen (kind of like Dumbo in Disneyland…but only in terms of general concept), and a fast ferris wheel. I opted out of any of the mentioned death traps. But here are some pictures!
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Week Three
This is an old post that never got posted. I'll try to get an update soon but I've been super busy with projects and internship assignments and going to Suva! Pictures to come also.
Week Three
I’m a little over halfway done! I can hardly believe it. I thought I’d give an update on how the projects are going that I’m working on.
Veilomani Boys Home: I teach Monday – Thursday for 1 ½ hours rotating between English and math. This project didn’t have a lot of structure before I took over as project lead. Basically, volunteers would just go and teach from a workbook or just hang out with the boys there. It’s a little crazy that the people in charge of there don’t really care what we teach or what we do for the hour and a half that we’re there. That hour and a half is the only “traditional” learning any of them get (i.e. they don’t learn English or math any other way). There’s one person who taught before HELP International came but he also teaches automotives and is currently getting his master’s degree so he kind of considers basic English and math his lowest priority. It’s pretty unfortunate because some of these kids don’t know how to read or do basic math, let alone write letters or read numbers. The school is a two year trade school so my ultimate goal is to get the teacher back in the classroom and to create a two year curriculum to help guide him with what he should be teaching. I think our volunteers would be most helpful as one-on-one tutors for those who struggle the most (and typically get lost in the crowd….getting moved on without learning anything). I have an outline of this curriculum and am just waiting to meet with the head person over there to re-negotiate our roles.
Gardening: This is a project I’m in charge of but it’s something I’ve had a lot of fun doing. So far I’ve been to three schools to help them plant their gardens and I’ve been back to one school to teach nutrition classes. It’s a lot of fun to be able to interact one-on-one with the kids and to do some manual labor. A lot of the work we do involves researching or partnering with existing NGO’s to make them better – so any chance we get to just hang out with the local people is a lot of fun.
Fundraising: One way our volunteers have noticed we can help is to assist organizations in their fundraising efforts. For example, the Ba School for Special Education has an insanely small budget – especially for the needs the school has. They rely a ton on sponsors and donations to just keep going. One of our volunteers, Darcy, has decided to have a Walkathon to help fundraise money for the school. I’m teaming up with Darcy to help with preparation for the event (it’s on July 30 so I won’t actually get to be there). Another fundraiser is for Gold Foundation. I think I’ve talked about it a little bit before. Gold is an NGO that exists to “help the poor and needy of Tavua.” They host a carnival every year where they fundraise 80% of their money. The carnival this coming week so all of us are going to be helping out there.
Those are the main projects I’m working on at the moment. I like the tag along on other projects every once in a while to mix things up.
Week Three
I’m a little over halfway done! I can hardly believe it. I thought I’d give an update on how the projects are going that I’m working on.
Veilomani Boys Home: I teach Monday – Thursday for 1 ½ hours rotating between English and math. This project didn’t have a lot of structure before I took over as project lead. Basically, volunteers would just go and teach from a workbook or just hang out with the boys there. It’s a little crazy that the people in charge of there don’t really care what we teach or what we do for the hour and a half that we’re there. That hour and a half is the only “traditional” learning any of them get (i.e. they don’t learn English or math any other way). There’s one person who taught before HELP International came but he also teaches automotives and is currently getting his master’s degree so he kind of considers basic English and math his lowest priority. It’s pretty unfortunate because some of these kids don’t know how to read or do basic math, let alone write letters or read numbers. The school is a two year trade school so my ultimate goal is to get the teacher back in the classroom and to create a two year curriculum to help guide him with what he should be teaching. I think our volunteers would be most helpful as one-on-one tutors for those who struggle the most (and typically get lost in the crowd….getting moved on without learning anything). I have an outline of this curriculum and am just waiting to meet with the head person over there to re-negotiate our roles.
Gardening: This is a project I’m in charge of but it’s something I’ve had a lot of fun doing. So far I’ve been to three schools to help them plant their gardens and I’ve been back to one school to teach nutrition classes. It’s a lot of fun to be able to interact one-on-one with the kids and to do some manual labor. A lot of the work we do involves researching or partnering with existing NGO’s to make them better – so any chance we get to just hang out with the local people is a lot of fun.
Fundraising: One way our volunteers have noticed we can help is to assist organizations in their fundraising efforts. For example, the Ba School for Special Education has an insanely small budget – especially for the needs the school has. They rely a ton on sponsors and donations to just keep going. One of our volunteers, Darcy, has decided to have a Walkathon to help fundraise money for the school. I’m teaming up with Darcy to help with preparation for the event (it’s on July 30 so I won’t actually get to be there). Another fundraiser is for Gold Foundation. I think I’ve talked about it a little bit before. Gold is an NGO that exists to “help the poor and needy of Tavua.” They host a carnival every year where they fundraise 80% of their money. The carnival this coming week so all of us are going to be helping out there.
Those are the main projects I’m working on at the moment. I like the tag along on other projects every once in a while to mix things up.
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Hiking
On Saturday (the 24th), Stefka, Alex, Amanda, Chenae and I went to Vatabuli (a village about an hour north of Ba) to go hiking. The hike was only about 45 minutes but it took a while because it was seriously like bushwhacking. A group of local Fijians offered to take us on the hike and they walked ahead to machete the all the brush to clear a little path for us. They all walked barefoot and were more surefooted and faster than all of us. It was quite the experience. We hiked to a waterfall which was delightful because the water helped to cool us down. The waterfall wasn’t super impressive (you know, comparing it to the Columbia River Gorge) but it was fun to relax on the rocks by the waterfall and just hang out, swim, etc. Some people even jumped off the rocks above the waterfall (not me though since I’m afraid of heights). The local people claim that if you haven’t been to this waterfall, you haven’t really been to Fiji. They call the area “the real Fiji.” I have to admit, it’s fun to not feel too much like a tourist (although, we still stick out like nobody’s business). It was a fun day and another cheap day trip away from Ba. We got back at about 6:00 pm but it felt like it was 10:00 or 11:00 because it starts to get dark about 5:30.
Stefka, Alex, me
The Gang at the waterfall. Stefka is on my right, Amanda’s on my left, Chenae and Alex are up on the rocks and our tour guides are by the waterfall.
Some people jumped from the rocks.
The water seriously felt so good. Warm enough to be comfortable but cool enough to cool us down.
Stefka, Alex, me
The Gang at the waterfall. Stefka is on my right, Amanda’s on my left, Chenae and Alex are up on the rocks and our tour guides are by the waterfall.
Some people jumped from the rocks.
The water seriously felt so good. Warm enough to be comfortable but cool enough to cool us down.
Gardens
Friday (the 23rd), we went gardening at the schools again. This time we went to Tagore Memorial Primary School and the Ba School for Special Education. Planting at Tagore was pretty quick because they had the ground all ready for us but at Ba Special we had to break up the dirt and everything. The kids helped us and were hard workers. There was one girl (I never learned her name) who had Down Syndrome who was so friendly with everyone. She kept coming up to me and giving me hugs and kissing my shirt. If only she had known how much sweat was soaked up in that shirt….
As a side note…it has been raining a lot recently and on Monday it was actually cold! I borrowed someone’s sweatshirt and had a blanket. I never thought I would get cold here (and so I didn’t pack anything to get warm). It’s one quick way to appreciate warm showers!
As a side note…it has been raining a lot recently and on Monday it was actually cold! I borrowed someone’s sweatshirt and had a blanket. I never thought I would get cold here (and so I didn’t pack anything to get warm). It’s one quick way to appreciate warm showers!
Tea
People here love to drink tea and they all take tea at their jobs (usually around 10:30 in the morning). “Tea” here pretty much refers to anything they drink besides water. Whenever we go gardening at the schools, they serve us tea – which is always juice and these fried balls of something (I don’t know what they are but they have little pieces of green stuff in them and they’re much better when they’re hot). Their juice really is quite delightful. I’ve never had Tang but I’ve seen a lot of Tang packages here so I’m wondering if that’s the type of juice it is. Sometimes they also serve us lunch. Anyway, the pace here is pretty slow – which can be good and bad.
Buses
One of my favorite things is riding the buses. It’s so nice because most of them don’t have windows (and if they do, the windows are always open) so the breeze cools me down in between going places. Everywhere is pretty and peaceful so it’s so nice to just sit on the bus and look out the window. I mean, we’re talking rickety buses here so I guess “peaceful” isn’t necessarily the best word for the actual bus experience because it sounds like the bus is going to fall apart at any second. They also blast American music. It’s funny because that’s pretty much all they play and everyone knows ALL the words! We say “Justin Bieber” and they immediately start singing “Baby, Baby, Baby oh….” Who knew?
There are a couple different form so f transportation here. We usually take the bus but there are also mini buses (basically just big vans) and taxis. Mini buses are usually faster because they wait until they’re full and then they don’t stop. The downside is that you sit RIGHT next to each other so it can be slightly uncomfortable. A bus to town costs 70 cents and a bus to a place like Lautoka or Tavua (both about an hour away) is two dollars.
It’s funny because there aren’t really bus stops here. People just wait on the side of the road and wait for someone to come by and pick them up. The same goes for getting off the bus – you ring the bell and get off when you want.
There are a couple different form so f transportation here. We usually take the bus but there are also mini buses (basically just big vans) and taxis. Mini buses are usually faster because they wait until they’re full and then they don’t stop. The downside is that you sit RIGHT next to each other so it can be slightly uncomfortable. A bus to town costs 70 cents and a bus to a place like Lautoka or Tavua (both about an hour away) is two dollars.
It’s funny because there aren’t really bus stops here. People just wait on the side of the road and wait for someone to come by and pick them up. The same goes for getting off the bus – you ring the bell and get off when you want.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Chaco Lines and Veilomani Boys Home
My main project so far has been working at the Veilomani Boys Home here in Ba. There are about 38 boys there (ages 13-20) who are all drop-outs. They come to school from 8:00-3:30 where they learn auto mechanics, beekeeping and the like. HELP International comes in and teaches English and math from 10:30-12:00 Monday – Wednesday. We’re not able to take pictures there so I don’t have any pictures to post. I’m taking on the project of developing a curriculum for them because they don’t have any curriculum whatsoever (at the moment we just teach whatever we want). We’ve split the “boys” up into two classes based on ability and I teach the lower level class Monday – Wednesday. I like it a lot, I have to say.
Anyway, I just thought I’d update a little bit on what I’m up to. I have officially gotten a chaco tan line from wearing my chacos every day. They’re the best. I love wearing socks but there is no way on this earth I could handle wearing socks here. A boy from the school also drew me this picture.
Anyway, I just thought I’d update a little bit on what I’m up to. I have officially gotten a chaco tan line from wearing my chacos every day. They’re the best. I love wearing socks but there is no way on this earth I could handle wearing socks here. A boy from the school also drew me this picture.
Snorkeling
This weekend 8 of us went snorkeling in VoliVoli. We left at about 6:00 am (I know, be shocked that I was ready that early) took a bus to RakiRaki where John, who was a Peace Corps volunteer back in the day, met up with us. John came in contact with HELP International last year and offered to take volunteers out on his boat snorkeling. Three groups of volunteers took him up on it last year and two groups of us have been so far this year. John took us out on his boat, took us to rent snorkel gear, and then we went to this amazing reef in the middle of the ocean. I’ve never been snorkeling before (or on a real boat) so it was quite the experience. Breathing through my mouth definitely took some getting used to but once I got the hang of it, it was really fun. We had great visibility and I felt like I was in Finding Nemo.
We spent about an hour in the first location and then went to an island to do some more snorkeling and hang out on the beach. We were the only ones there and it felt like a cool mixture of Lost, Survivor, and Pirates of the Caribbean. The only part I didn’t like was when we had to swim back to the shore through low tide. I have never felt so claustrophobic in my entire – the reef was seriously right under us. That night we had dinner at the VoliVoli resort. They pretty much only served burgers and fish and that was my first time having beef since I’ve been here.
All in all it was a great day trip away from the house. It was an amazing experience and wasn’t even that expensive - $40 for travel, snorkel gear, and dinner. Not too bad!
We spent about an hour in the first location and then went to an island to do some more snorkeling and hang out on the beach. We were the only ones there and it felt like a cool mixture of Lost, Survivor, and Pirates of the Caribbean. The only part I didn’t like was when we had to swim back to the shore through low tide. I have never felt so claustrophobic in my entire – the reef was seriously right under us. That night we had dinner at the VoliVoli resort. They pretty much only served burgers and fish and that was my first time having beef since I’ve been here.
All in all it was a great day trip away from the house. It was an amazing experience and wasn’t even that expensive - $40 for travel, snorkel gear, and dinner. Not too bad!
Week One
I’ve made it through my entire first week (actually a couple days over) and I’ve been able to volunteer with a variety of projects. I volunteered at Gold Foundation (an NGO in Lautoka) where we helped them create posters to advertize for their biggest fundraising event in July. I tutored at the Ba Boys Home a couple nights this week, went with the Ministry of Health to a local primary school (they typically teach classes about basic health but when I went they were distributing medication to the kids in the school), and planted the garden at the school. I’m hoping to find one project I can really latch onto but for now I’m still kind of figuring out where exactly that will be.
Gardening
Today we went to a local primary school to plant a garden. Gardens here are part of the curriculum so the kids work on the gardens on a regular basis when one exists at the school. The kids are always so excited to see us and they love to touch our arms so they can touch our white skin. You know how you can press down on your arm and when you lift your fingers up you can see your fingerprints? Well, they think this is the funniest thing ever and love to randomly come up to you and do it to your skin.
They also love photos and liked to ask me to take their picture and then let them see it on the screen. The picture of my with the three boys is one of my favorite pictures so far. The boy closest to me is in our ward and today was his birthday! His name is Simeona. The other picture is of the group after the garden was finished. It was a lot of hard work and I had to take lots of breaks but we were able to plant a lot – carrots, beans, lettuce, cabbage, eggplant, and tomatoes. Hopefully they’ll keep it up and be able to eat from what they planted.
They also love photos and liked to ask me to take their picture and then let them see it on the screen. The picture of my with the three boys is one of my favorite pictures so far. The boy closest to me is in our ward and today was his birthday! His name is Simeona. The other picture is of the group after the garden was finished. It was a lot of hard work and I had to take lots of breaks but we were able to plant a lot – carrots, beans, lettuce, cabbage, eggplant, and tomatoes. Hopefully they’ll keep it up and be able to eat from what they planted.
Ba Ward Family Fun Day
I made it to Fiji!!! I’ve already gotten my first sunburn, been to a Fijian market, taken numerous cold showers, eaten ground lamb from a can (along with curry, roti, and Indian sweets), and taken a bunch of buses.
We arrived in Fiji at 5:10 am and made it back to our pink house at about 8:30.
The day was spent going into town to go grocery shopping and relaxing. Sunday we went to church in the Ba ward. Our group pretty much doubles (maybe triples) the number of people who regularly attend and we’re pretty much the only people who participate. I’m not sure what goes on in the Primary but pretty much all the little kids just run outside the whole time (every single one of them is seriously so cute). It’s technically winter here so people wear long pants and wrap their babies in blankets and hats. I can’t even believe it because it is so incredibly hot!!!
Monday was a holiday because it was the Queen’s birthday. Even though Fiji is no longer a British colony they still celebrate the holiday. The ward had a Family Fun Day which we went to. The activities were pretty similar to what wards would do in the states. We played volleyball and had different races (sack races, banana eating contests, cream bun eating contests, and coconut scraping contests). The coconut scraping contest was interesting. I tried to do it and one of the Fijians on my team couldn’t handle how slow I was so he told me to step aside….The picture shows the tool they use to scrap out the coconut. You sit on the wooden part and put the bowl on the ground to catch the shavings. Anyway, once they had scraped out the coconut they mixed it with water and sugar to make coconut milk and then they dip bread in it. They call this “refreshment” (which we would call dessert). It was actually pretty delightful. I’m not the biggest fan of soggy bread but it was really sweet and delicious. The bread here is amazing.
Our house doesn’t really have mirrors. I mean, there are a couple but they’re in awkward spots so I never see myself. This is a plus – I look disgusting.
We arrived in Fiji at 5:10 am and made it back to our pink house at about 8:30.
The day was spent going into town to go grocery shopping and relaxing. Sunday we went to church in the Ba ward. Our group pretty much doubles (maybe triples) the number of people who regularly attend and we’re pretty much the only people who participate. I’m not sure what goes on in the Primary but pretty much all the little kids just run outside the whole time (every single one of them is seriously so cute). It’s technically winter here so people wear long pants and wrap their babies in blankets and hats. I can’t even believe it because it is so incredibly hot!!!
Monday was a holiday because it was the Queen’s birthday. Even though Fiji is no longer a British colony they still celebrate the holiday. The ward had a Family Fun Day which we went to. The activities were pretty similar to what wards would do in the states. We played volleyball and had different races (sack races, banana eating contests, cream bun eating contests, and coconut scraping contests). The coconut scraping contest was interesting. I tried to do it and one of the Fijians on my team couldn’t handle how slow I was so he told me to step aside….The picture shows the tool they use to scrap out the coconut. You sit on the wooden part and put the bowl on the ground to catch the shavings. Anyway, once they had scraped out the coconut they mixed it with water and sugar to make coconut milk and then they dip bread in it. They call this “refreshment” (which we would call dessert). It was actually pretty delightful. I’m not the biggest fan of soggy bread but it was really sweet and delicious. The bread here is amazing.
Our house doesn’t really have mirrors. I mean, there are a couple but they’re in awkward spots so I never see myself. This is a plus – I look disgusting.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Day One
Ok, so technically I won't get to Fiji until tomorrow morning but today is the start of the long expedition over there. I'll actually end up missing out on most of Friday, June 10th because it gets lost in the time change. The trip today consists of flying from Portland to Salt Lake, Salt Lake to Los Angeles, Los Angeles to Nadi, Fiji. My flight from L.A. to Fiji is about 11 hours long and then we have a glorious two hour bus ride to get to Ba. All in all I think it will end up being about 23 hours of traveling. Fun times. I arrive in Fiji at 5:11 am, so after already being up for an entire day, I get to be up for another one! I've never been able to sleep on planes but here's hoping today is a first.
Everything's all packed up and I'm ready to go for the most part. The garage sale was a success in that I exceeded the amount of money I wanted to earn; however, I don't think I will ever do another one. It was a lot more work than I was expecting and just a little too stressful to really be worth it.
I do have a mailing address if anyone feels so inclined to send me something.
P.O. Box 800
Ba
Fiji
And with an address like that, I'd say there's a one in a million chance it will actually get to me. If that.
Fiji here I come!!
Everything's all packed up and I'm ready to go for the most part. The garage sale was a success in that I exceeded the amount of money I wanted to earn; however, I don't think I will ever do another one. It was a lot more work than I was expecting and just a little too stressful to really be worth it.
I do have a mailing address if anyone feels so inclined to send me something.
P.O. Box 800
Ba
Fiji
And with an address like that, I'd say there's a one in a million chance it will actually get to me. If that.
Fiji here I come!!
Thursday, June 2, 2011
One week from today!!
Well, I had my final check-out with HELP International this week so I've officially done everything they want me to do before I leave. I flew home from Provo today so I get to spend a little time in Vancouver before the big adventure. The next week will be spent stuffing my face, enjoying not being sweaty, driving around, taking hot showers, and sleeping in my own room! Oh, the luxuries.
I will also be doing a lot of last minute stuff and getting everything ready. On Saturday we're having a garage sale as one final fundraising effort. I've never had a garage sale before so I don't really know what to expect but I've decided to take Kristin's advice and have low expectations. That way, I'll be pleasantly surprised. Right?
I'd say my pre-trip feelings are pretty typical and what I expected. You know, moments of sheer panic when I wonder why in the world I signed up for this; moments of worrying about random things like if the shampoo I'm bringing is considered "sweet" smelling; moments of excitement, etc. Mostly, I'm ready to be done with the anticipation and just be there!
I will also be doing a lot of last minute stuff and getting everything ready. On Saturday we're having a garage sale as one final fundraising effort. I've never had a garage sale before so I don't really know what to expect but I've decided to take Kristin's advice and have low expectations. That way, I'll be pleasantly surprised. Right?
I'd say my pre-trip feelings are pretty typical and what I expected. You know, moments of sheer panic when I wonder why in the world I signed up for this; moments of worrying about random things like if the shampoo I'm bringing is considered "sweet" smelling; moments of excitement, etc. Mostly, I'm ready to be done with the anticipation and just be there!
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
The Countdown Begins
There are officially 23 days until I leave for Fiji!! The first wave of volunteers left close to two weeks ago and our country directors found a house for us in Ba on the island Viti Levu.
I have to admit, I didn't know a ton about Fiji before I decided to go so let me give a little bit of background information. There are a few "official languages" including Fijian, English and Fiji Hindi. The population is split between Native Fijians and Indo-Fijians (those of Indian decent). Fiji has a tropical climate - its warm season is between November and April and the cool season is from May to October. Even though the temperature during the cool season averages about 72 degrees, I hear that it's unbelievably humid and I'm pretty sure I'm still going to sweat like nobody's business. They use the Fijian Dollar (F$) and, as of today, 1 U.S. Dollar is worth 1.78 Fijian Dollars. HELP International first started volunteering in Fiji during the summer of 2009.
Anyway, I'm excited to learn more first-hand and hopefully I'll be able to post lots of pictures.
Finally (and most importantly) I just want to thank everyone who has donated to HELP International in support of my trip to help the Fijian people. After sending out 70 fundraising letters, $2,138.94 was donated to HELP International. I'd say that's pretty amazing. I really appreciate everyone's generosity! I truly couldn't do it without you. THANK YOU!
I have to admit, I didn't know a ton about Fiji before I decided to go so let me give a little bit of background information. There are a few "official languages" including Fijian, English and Fiji Hindi. The population is split between Native Fijians and Indo-Fijians (those of Indian decent). Fiji has a tropical climate - its warm season is between November and April and the cool season is from May to October. Even though the temperature during the cool season averages about 72 degrees, I hear that it's unbelievably humid and I'm pretty sure I'm still going to sweat like nobody's business. They use the Fijian Dollar (F$) and, as of today, 1 U.S. Dollar is worth 1.78 Fijian Dollars. HELP International first started volunteering in Fiji during the summer of 2009.
Anyway, I'm excited to learn more first-hand and hopefully I'll be able to post lots of pictures.
Finally (and most importantly) I just want to thank everyone who has donated to HELP International in support of my trip to help the Fijian people. After sending out 70 fundraising letters, $2,138.94 was donated to HELP International. I'd say that's pretty amazing. I really appreciate everyone's generosity! I truly couldn't do it without you. THANK YOU!
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