Fiji

Placement locations

Most placements are located on the main island of Viti Levu, and a small number of placements are on the surrounding islands Ovalau and Motoriki.

Roles explained

Community Outreach (Teaching & Community work)

Most of the placements in Fiji involve volunteers working in a variety of schools such as rural district schools, kindergartens, special education schools, high schools and centres for children with various disabilities.

There are however a few unique placements, one is at a Swimming Club where you would be coaching children from 6-20 at various levels, updating the clubs social media presence, running a water safety awareness campaign and organising swimming competitions. There is also a placement which supports the elderly and disabled. Here you could be getting involved in a range of work from geriatric nursing, mental health rehabilitation, physiotherapy and even horticulture! Lastly at the Hilton School placement you will be working with children who have a range of disabilities. Here you might be using facilities such as a hydrotherapy pool to help bring comfort and rehabilitate some of the children.

Although the focus on most placements across Fiji will be utilising your knowledge to teach in schools and similar institutions, due to the nature of the Fijian culture, volunteers will almost certainly end up working closely alongside the local community. Whether playing sport with the local children or helping out with local building projects, volunteers will always be getting involved with the community they are staying within a range of different ways. Some of the most common things you will be involved with are: teaching, library supervision, homework supervision, escorting children to and from school, developing website and social media prescence, admin and helping advise on village and community management.

Living with a host family in Fiji will give you a real insight into Fijian culture. Volunteers will be kept busy far beyond their volunteering duties, whether that is helping their hosts cook and prepare food for meals to being involved in village celebrations.

Placements in Fiji also allow volunteers to be proactive and use their skills and interests to start their own projects, whether that is an after school club or sports training, you will find plenty of willing participants.

Placement Details

Volunteers in Fiji tend to work from 8am-4pm in a range of different teaching roles. You could be working in a secondary boarding school with around 185 students and be helping pupils with their spoken and written English language skills. In this school, where you would live with other teachers within the school compound, you would also have the opportunity to get involved in PE, music, arts and crafts, as well as assisting other teachers with boarding house duties.

Alternatively, you could be placed in a more rural setting on Moturiki Island. Volunteers in this placement work alongside 6 other teachers in a small school for 5-16 year olds, 20 minutes away from the nearest village. If you are placed here you will need to be prepared to make suggestions as to how best you can be used, as well as being prepared to take responsibility for a class by yourself. Although the role is technically a teaching assistant one, many volunteers have in fact found that they have often been asked to take a class of their own in the school. All lessons are taught in English but most children will only speak Fijian at home, so you must be prepared to deal with varying levels of English language abilities. Despite these potential challenges, the other teachers in the school are very supportive and ex-volunteers have spoken highly of the close relationships they have formed within the rural community.

Due to the nature of Fijian culture, wherever you are placed you will be expected to help in the community as well. Activities will vary accordingly from community to community and from volunteer to volunteer. Whether your strengths lie in sport and you are involved with beach rugby with the community children, to working alongside the villages preparing feasts. There will never be a dull moment and the opportunities to get involved in all manner of activities are only limited to your own initiative!

Accommodation and food

Accommodation varies from living in a hostel on site, to staying with a local Fijian family. Food is supplied in conjunction with accommodation. Fijians eat almost anything at any time. Dalo (or taro) and cassava are root vegetables and, with bread and fruit, are the staple diet in rural areas. Food is taken on a beautiful home-made reed mat.

Is it for me?

Few placements offer such a culturally rich experience. Volunteers become immersed in the traditional Fijian way of life while contributing to the local community. It will suit people who are proactive, outgoing and willing to think outside the box. The work can be challenging, the accommodation is basic and the food is quite alternative! However the whole experience is guaranteed to be truly exhilarating and enormously rewarding.

Need to know

• Pre departure briefing - all volunteers are invited to a group briefing prior to departure
• On arrival - all volunteers have a five-day orientation in Fiji

Free time

Your evening and weekend activities will depend partly on which island you are placed. In more rural locations, your hosts will include you in their social gatherings and will make you feel at home in no time. Furthermore if you are placed on Ovalau island, you will find internet cafes, shops and other amenities in Nadi, where the international airport is located. Many tourist activities are also available in Nadi all year round.

Aside from this, in your spare time you may take advantage of Fiji’s reputation as the “soft coral capital of the world”. Grab a snorkel and explore the stunning underwater landscape at your nearest beach or simply spend a few hours relaxing by the sea on a bed of white sand. For longer periods of time off, you could visit fellow volunteers placed on their respective islands. Many companies offer island hopping tours around Fiji and this is an excellent way of getting to know the country better. You can also visit the Yasawa group, a chain of ancient volcanic islands renowned for their stunning turquoise lagoons. Another option would be to take a boat up the Navua River. Glide past indigenous villages and pristine waterfalls, stopping now and then to take a dip in the cooling waters and to sample a tropical Fijian lunch.

Travel

Volunteers have the opportunity to travel around Fiji at the end of their placement and many choose to explore Australia, New Zealand and other Pacific islands before leaving. Dragging yourself away from your placement may be difficult, but if you do you’ll find over 300 islands to explore, reefs to dive, beaches to snorkel from, rainforests to trek in, villages to visit and people to befriend. Fiji is fascinating and enticing and you may never want to leave.

Costs

Lattitude Global Volunteering fee:
All departures: £2,500

As part of the placement the following is provided:

What’s included?

• Accommodation & food (provided by host placement or host family and is not part of the cost but part of the arrangement)
• 24/7 support
• In-country orientation
• In-country support
• Assigned Volunteer Coordinator to help with all pre-departure support and offer guidance
• Pre-departure briefing
• Airport pickup
• In depth matching process to align your skills and interests with a placement that really suits you

Please note this fee does not include the cost of getting to Fiji or extras such as insurance or any inoculations you may need. For an estimated break down of all costs you may have to budget for please click here

Fundraising

As a charity we always recommend our volunteers fundraise to help meet the costs involved in volunteering overseas. In many ways it is part of the whole experience. For more information and fundraising ideas please click here

Planning your trip

*Application deadline refers to the time by which your application must have been accepted and the £25 interview deposit paid.

Please note that the deadline is the last possible time allowed to get an application form in that allows us enough time to match volunteers and begin sorting out visas.

We always recommend applying as early as possible in order to secure your place.

We are currently accepting applications for departures in 2016 and 2017.

Volunteer in Fiji: apply now>>