Fiji

Bula Bula Vinaka! My journey to Fiji started off with a 25 minute rickety old 10 seater propeller powered plane journey over a small section of the beautiful reef covered Pacific Ocean. As the plane was only about 3000ft into the sky the view was stunning over the clear blue ocean. Once I landed I had another 1 hour very wet but very fun boat ride to the camp site of Frontier's Fiji Marine Conservation and Diving project, tucked away on a hill in the Fijian rain forest. It was my week off to visit the new camp site, get some feedback from the RA's and staff on their new experience, and have a bit of time off from my busy schedule back in Suva - the capital city where I manage 4 voluntary community projects as part of the Frontier Fiji experience. The week I was there flew by, but I squeezed in a lot. If I were to write my day to day schedule we would be here forever so here is a quick overview of one of the most incredible weeks I have ever experienced; trekking through the rain forest on the hunt for coconuts and land crabs, sleeping in a bamboo hut, drinking too much Kava with the islanders, snorkeling and diving with reef sharks manta rays puffer fish sea cucumber and turtles, eating paw paws and giant avocado's, a bonfire on the beach, rum on the beach, bread making - and eating, sunsets from the wharf, an abundance of coconuts milk, visiting church eating a Fijian feast and generally chilling with the local village islanders who are so wonderfully kind and hospitable. The best thing about this project is the new location. Volunteers get to dive and research into unknown territory and get to stamp their own mark on the area. The first phase of volunteers to provide survey results for this area have already discovered some 'sweet' dive sites, taking it upon themselves to creative some quirky names for a few of them already. I myself, already being a member of staff, mostly enjoyed visiting the local village and generally hanging out with the islanders. I have done a fair amount of travelling/living/working in developing countries over the last 4 years and I can honestly say that Fijians have the most amazing community spirit, the biggest of smiles and are the most hospitable people I have ever met. I fully recommend a visit to Fiji, and I highly recommend signing up to one of the Frontier Fiji voluntary projects for an unforgettable inspiring coconut fueled gap year experience. If you choose to live on an island for 10 weeks I would suggest taking a large supply of food spices, vitamin supplements, peanut butter, tea bags and never forgetting sun cream! I can't wait for another visit later in the year to see how things have progressed!

Summer 2016 I had the opportunity to go on the shark conservation project based in Fiji. From the beginning, I felt welcomed and adapted to being out of the states with ease because all of the volunteers were so welcoming including the staff. The staff members were especially great and very supportive if a volunteer encountered a problem or needed help. In addition, if a volunteer ever felt as though they didn't have a sufficient amount of workload the staff would always be willing to allow the volunteers to become more involved with extra work and more responsibility. The project enabled me to step out of my comfort zone and meet many new people from all around the world and even from places near my home. For the volunteers that live near me, I am still friends with them and plan to continue my PADI certifications with them. To be completely honest, this project was my first time traveling independently overseas which can be daunting but there was never a time where I was unhappy with the project. What's not to love about diving every week, fascinating workshops, AWARE shark course, and local village visits? I forgot to mention the incredible shark dives with sometimes fifty or more bull sharks. I recommend this project because it has been an amazing experience for me personally in respect to making new friends, going on survey dives, learning new information from the workshops, and much more.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Frontier. It has been fun and challenging working on the projects here in such a beautiful country.

I recommend these projects for the amount of personal growth i have had over these months, and for the friends i have made. The Homestay family are incredibly welcoming and make life so much easier when away from home.

With a great location and fantastic people, frontier Fiji marine is truly one of the best things you can do. the diving is second to none, Fiji is well deserved to be called the soft coral capitol of the world and not just soft corals, there's all sorts of marine life from sharks and turtles to lobsters, crabs and rays and of course a plethora of fish! With a strong scientific base you feel like you are giving back to the community and of course those communities welcome you with open arms. if you want to make friends and memories that will last a life time then definitely come to frontier Fiji!!

Frontier had provide me the opportunity to see the world while gathering work experience as a marine scientist. My experience so far had been priceless. I met and learnt to work with people from various backgrounds (both other volunteers and locals). The work is constantly challenging and allows me to grow both as a leader and a scientist.

Not to mention that I work in one of the most beautiful place on earth. I woke up in the morning to the view of dense rain forest. The diving was also divine. You can see anything starting from small beautiful nudibranch to 1.5 m white tip reef shark.

There's also the feeling of accomplishment that you have done something good for the environment and the community as we develop and established conservation projects with the team. This is definitely one of the experiences that will shape who I am in the future.

I was 20 years older than any of the older volunteers, but that made no difference. I felt that i was part of the team from day one. I did so much great stuff and enjoyed every moment of my time in Fiji. I was doing the marine conservation course where they taught me to dive, then whisked off to live a simple and rough life for 3 weeks on Beqa island. It was stunningly beautiful. I got to do a shark dive, shark tagging and got to stay on what is one of the most beautiful places I have ever stayed.
I could have easily stayed much much longer.
The team who ran the project I can not praise enough. Ollie the divemaster was running the whole project himself for the first couple of weeks and it was just the best laugh. Lots and lots of diving and lots of joking about.
You must take a sense of humour with you and the conditions are very basic, but that just ment the bond I made with my fellow volunteers was so much deeper.
I have spoken to other people on similar projects and I know they didnt have the fun we had.

I went to Fiji for a Media and Journalism Internship and it was fabulous. I lived in Suva for two months and worked with a magazine that treated me so well! They sent me on trips and gave me valuable assignments. I felt very useful there, not like I was just an intern being humored. Frontier is a knowledgeable, passionate, and worthy organization to spend your time and money on. The staff on my project were no different. It's easy to tell that they are very committed to their work, and they enjoy helping the volunteers discover new cultures. I also felt like I had a fair amount of freedom on this project to explore and learn on my own. If you're looking to travel and experience another country in an authentic way, Frontier is a great way to do it.

My name is Sophia and I am a current law student in South Carolina. After graduating from undergrad, I knew that I wanted to volunteer abroad and have an exciting and rewarding summer. After some research online, I chose to volunteer with Projects Abroad in Fiji. I couldn’t believe my luck! Studying sharks in paradise, scuba diving everyday but my experience was much more than that. The people I met in Fiji including the volunteers, staff members and the locals really made my experience extraordinary.

I arrived in Fiji to a grinning man named John who ushered me onto a bus which took me to my new home in Fiji, a structure lovingly called the Sugar Cube for it’s shape and color. I was greeted by a gaggle of friendly volunteers and staff members all excited to meet me and make me feel comfortable. I soon learned my everyday duties and what I would be responsible for such as learning fish species, activities for ‘dirty days’ and most excitingly when I would be scuba diving and getting my certifications. I cannot express how welcomed I felt when I arrived at the Projects Abroad apartment. I felt as though I was at a home almost immediately.

The most exciting part of the Fiji Projects Abroad Shark Awareness program is, of course, the shark dive! Although not for the faint of heart, it was the most exciting experience of my life and I will never forget it. The feeling of being under water with these incredible predators and just admiring how amazing they are is something I hope the world will one day be able to see. After this experience I am so much more aware of my impact on not only sharks but my impact on the ocean in general. It’s almost impossible to not have an experience like this change your way of thinking. I truly, wholeheartedly recommend Projects Abroad to anyone who wishes to volunteer and make a difference.

On the first day we were met by the GVI staff members and treated to a delicious breakfast of local fruits. Before long, we were on our way across the lush, green island to the small village of Silana. Our arrival was eagerly anticipated by the other GVI volunteers, who welcomed us with smiles and lunch!
Our first Sunday was spent in church and getting to know our Fijian families. A traditional Fijian meal was prepared and we were supplied with pillows and told to ‘take a nap’ for the afternoon, happily following the local custom that no work can be done on a Sunday.
The following weeks involved getting to know our class at school. The level of spoken and written English varied dramatically throughout the class but all the children were keen to learn and practice, particularly if that involved gossiping about other class members or volunteers! I was struck by the enthusiasm of the children in my class – something that I never experienced whilst I was at school. They had dreams of being doctors or teachers in order to help out their community, but most of all, they wanted to travel.
My experience in Silana was one of the most treasured moments of my life. The village was so welcoming, always ready to teach you Fijian or inviting you into their house for dinner. The evenings were spent drinking kava in the community hall or watching exceptional performances of the Meke – a traditional Fijian dance.
Almost as soon as we arrived it was time to leave. The morning came for us to leave and the women of the village came to say goodbye in the traditional way – through song. By the time the stunning harmonies of Isa Lei had come to an end there wasn’t a dry eye getting in the van to leave.
I know I speak for all the volunteers when I say that being in Silana was a truly special experience and that we would all do anything to go back. Four weeks was definitely not long enough and I would thoroughly recommend this program to anyone and everyone!

I spent one month volunteering in Fiji this year on the 'Community development expedition' I made some great friends and experienced the real Fiji whilst living there, but it wasn't all so great. For a start, the staff were rude, unfriendly and never had anything nice to say, they talked rudely about other volunteers to me and some things I heard actually shocked me. I had a staff member say about another volunteer "oh it's him, he never does anything, he is just a spoilt brat", I wouldn't expect to hear that from really anyone let alone a fully grown person. The staff are very separate from the volunteers and there isn't really a sense of community on base at all, after project the evenings were long and boring, with no organised activities most of the time. Staff didn't really interact with volunteers at all, unless it was to say something bad at the debriefing over dinner, or to moan about something someone has done wrong, which instead of talking to them quietly about they named and shamed. Really, I found all the staff unpleasant, and most of the time they acted like they had been burdened with their jobs when the reality is they had chosen to live there.
Next up was the support I received beforehand, which was next to nothing. I paid my full amount and then heard nothing, I didn't receive any emails until the week before I arrived in Fiji, even though I had emailed the country manager countless times asking for information. The information I did receive happened to be out of date and almost entirely wrong. I received the wrong starter pack, telling me that I was to be placed in a school and receive teacher training, I didn't receive anything about the work I would actually be doing (which involved working in the local villages, and some construction and almost no teaching at all). I had a long list of items I had to somehow purchase one week before being in Fiji even though I was already travelling which wasn't ideal, on top of this half the things on the list were unneeded which I realised when I arrived at base, if I had known before I could have saved myself the 100 odd dollars that I had wasted. There were forms that I hadn't filled in, and forms that I had filled in that weren't needed at all, another waste of time, overall the whole before process was disorganised and most of it was a massive waste of my time.
Now for conditions on base, which were absolutely disgusting. The first bure I slept in had a pair of bunks completely infested with bed bugs, so badly that you could actually see them in the nets. Unfortunately for my two friends that had arrived there the same day as I, that was the bunk that they chose. After a few days sleeping in it they had been bitten all over, from their feet to their faces, the staff provided no help what so ever for at least a week after this started. One member of staff told me this had happened to the person sleeping in that bed before them, then when that quote was brought up the story suddenly changed and he never said that. Staff passed the bites off as other things, insect bites, a rash... When the staff finally decided to listen they didn't really do much, they changed the mattresses and got them new bedding which didn't work, the bed bugs got so bad that they ended up in my two friends backpacks and in their other clothes. By the time they finally listened my friends had been completely attacked by bed bugs, had an infested rucksack and were completely paranoid about every bed on base. They had the gruelling process of having to try kill the bed bugs by boiling all of their clothes, this isn't easy to do when the only source of boiling water is a small kettle and there are no chemical products, they boiled their clothes and backpack about 2 times, then moved into their new room. The staff didn't provide any new bedding for them and offered no help in a problem that could have been avoided, the only thing the staff did do was tell one off for not having her shoulders covered, even though every item of clothing she owned was soaking wet on a washing line. The actual state of the beds and bures wasn't great either, the mattresses and pillows provided were disgusting, I have travelled for 6 months and these are easily the worst beds I came across in all my different forms of accommodation, which was funny considering this was the place I had paid to stay and work the longest. The mattresses were old and thin, I could feel the planks of wood through them and woke up with pins and needles and a dead body every morning from sleeping on them, and the pillows were a different level, they absolutely stunk, until I got into town I slept without one as it felt more hygienic, what annoyed me more is that I could have brought these items with me and spent money on them instead of all the money I wasted on pointless equipment. When working in the kitchen it never really felt hygienic, I used to wash all the cutlery and plates before using it, just to make sure. I saw rats in the cupboards that we ate from and the table surfaces that we worked in, there were also cockroaches and all other sorts of creepy crawlies, I know that this can't be avoided but it just felt unhygienic finding them in the cupboards and tubs that they shouldn't be able to access.
For me, one of the worst things I saw in all my time on base was the way that the animals were treated. I know that stray dogs are common in Fiji and can be considered a pest by locals, but when I see this extended to the western staff that work there it really bothered me. I saw staff full on kick dogs, to hurt them, and the worst part of all is that they encouraged others to do it, if you were seen so much as smiling at a dog you would be publicly named and shamed and told not to. Yes, you can't encourage the stray dogs, there are a lot of them and they are pests, but no way should you be kicking and encouraging cruelty on these animals when really all they are doing is hanging around waiting for some food. Almost everyone volunteering on base had pet dogs back home or had a liking towards dogs, for most of us our natural reaction was to "aww" at these dogs, especially when we saw the tiny puppies, and to show them a bit of affection, and to be told off and publicly shunned for doing so is wrong.There are ways to deter the dogs without using violence, for most dogs just a shoo and clapping hands scared them off, one tiny little dog that was known around base was the one that aggravated volunteers most, I saw her get kicked so hard at one point she actually rolled over and cried. There were rumours on base that GVI actually had local children to drown the new pups, which probably is common in the local communities and arguably kinder, but not at all something that GVI, AS A CHARITY ORGANISATION WHICH HELPS ANIMALS, should be encouraging. They also have base chickens, but the cage and conditions they were kept in was despicable. There were days that they didn't get fed or watered and they were hardly ever cleaned, the cage that they lived in was absolutely tiny, even though all the other chickens were free roaming. They also kept pigs, the pigs were in a tiny box container, not big enough for one let alone four, with a floor made entirely of concrete, with no mud for them to dig around or roll in. The way I saw animals, mainly the dogs, in my short four weeks there angered me the most about the whole project, I can deal with crappy beds and crappy food, but not with people abusing animals right in front of my eyes, and then encouraging other volunteers and local children to do so.
My overall experience with GVI, well the volunteering perspective, was good, I made some friends that will last a lifetime, experienced the real Fiji, saw some absolutely amazing sites and had my own Fijian family whom I loved spending time with, the work I done in the day was rewarding and I am happy I got to do that. However, after my experience on base and with the rather horrid staff I can say I would never volunteer with GVI again and next time will try a different company. I would 100% recommend volunteering, it's super fun and the most rewarding thing that I have ever done, especially in Fiji, but would not recommend this particular project on this base, unless the entire staff team was changed. I can't help thinking that my experience could have been so much better if there was a friendlier team of staff and a better atmosphere on base.