Volunteer with children in Fiji with GVI

For those of you looking into volunteering projects- i thought i would post my own experience volunteering with Global Vision International (www.gvi.co.uk), to hopefully inspire and help people to make a decision when choosing where to volunteer and who to go with.

Before my review, i have to insist on emphasising the fact that GVI can really open up opportunities for people. Either young people who aren't sure if university is the path for them, or graduates who want to explore their options and look into charity work, to those who have had careers and want to make a difference, can easily attain careers with gVI, committing their lives to making changes all over the world. GVI is a non political organisation, who pride themselves of spending 70% of the fees directly on the causes, while supporting other international charities.

I did the Fiji Childcare programme for 6 weeks with GVI. It was honestly the most rewarding, amazing experience i've ever had, and i have completely fallen in love with Fiji, and hope to be going back next year. GVI where amazing while the whole time, which made living in extremely basic conditions bearable, and even fun (although i actually enjoyed how basic our living conditions were, but i think for some people you might need to mentally prepare for that!). The staff members were in control the whole time, yet managed to create a balance between being professional and being extremely lovely and approachable.

As it was my first ever time away from home (and i had chosen the furthest possible place away from home) i was pretty nervous about going on the project, but as soon as we got to the island i would be living on, and met the staff members, i felt safe and happy instantly. When you arrived in fiji, you get to Nadi which is on the mainland, and you have to stay at accommodation that you arrange yourself, and then meet at the arranged meeting point at 6 am on the day your project begins. This was handled very well, and help is available from GVI if you need advice on where to stay and what will happen. We were met promptly by a staff member and introduced to fellow volunteers, and then got on the ferry to take us to the Yasawa Island. Nanuya Lai Lai, the island we lived on, is 5 hours away by ferry from the mainland. Once you get there, you have a base tour and decide which bunk you will sleep in. We live in dorms, there are currently 2 dorms, a 3rd is being built, and there are roughly 12 in each dorm. You have cold showers, as all the running water is pumped by a generator (which also pumps electricity for about 3 hours each day, yep thats right, only 3 hours of electricity a day, and its only available in the common area- no hairstraighteners or electric razors!) We also live among a local village, and you get to know some of the villagers and their children very well. They are lovely, generous people, and it was nice feeling part of their community.

We also cooked in cooking teams, once a week, breakfast and dinner, and sometimes lunch. The food supply is very basic, meat is basically off the menu completely, and we mainly lived on rice and pasta. Vegetables were around but mainly in the form of canned beans, however for at least 3 days of the week we would have lettuce and tomatoes for salad. However their is also a lady called Lowe, who owns a tea house about 10 minutes down the beach from Tovutu Base (the name of where we live) and she sells cake, fizzy drinks, crisps and bear-(alcohol is also available to be bought on base). She also sells sea shells on the sea shore...

We work 5 days a week. We leave base at 8 am (depending on the boat drivers- 'fiji time' is slow and something you will become used to) get to school at about quarter past 8 in time for assembly at half past, and then begin your ay of teaching. You will often have the fijian teacher leading the class, however sometimes they aren't around so you will have to take over. We are expected to plan lessons for music, arts and crafts and sports, which is good fun because the kids absolutely love doing it. You can either be attached to one class the whole time you are there, or you can to one to ones where you have a select number of students that you take out of classes throughout the day to focus on where they are suffering. We finish at 3.30 and go back to base to plan lessons and chill out with other volunteers- (marine conservation and construction live with us!)

The weekends are free to do diving or hiking across the island or going to a resort nearby or just sunbathing. There are always some sort of drinking sesh going on in the evenings- if someone has a birthday there is normally quite a good party. We had an Olympics party while i was there which was great fun.

The only negative things i have to say about my time there is that i did not bring enough money- it is suggested the 100 fiji dollars a week is sufficient. Following this advice, i found myself coming short and had to sacrifice going to some awesome sights in fiji to save money! I would take 200 fiji dollars a week, or more if possible. Its such a beautiful place, you might as well make the most of it and see all you can!