Fiji

Teaching & Community Work

Most of the work placements in Fiji involve teaching 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.

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 presence, 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 as part of an amazing gap year. 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.

Work 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.

Caring Assistant

Placements in Fiji are primarily in English teaching roles but there are some schools that require volunteers with skills and qualities that could be used to support children who have special needs. You will gain skills that will improve how you communicate and engage with people, how to teach and share knowledge, how to think creatively, and how to work as part of a team.

Placement details

Volunteers in Fiji tend to work from 8am-4pm in a range of different English 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 an English 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 room 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 eaten on a beautiful home-made reed mat.

Is it for me?

Few volunteering placements on a gap year 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 group 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. 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 UK nationals: £2,500 (contact us for fees for other nationalities)

What’s included?

• In depth matching process to align your skills and interests with a placement that really suits you
• Assigned Volunteer Coordinator to help with all your pre-departure information, advice and guidance
• Links with returned volunteers
• Registration with Interhealth (our medical partner)
• Relevant DBS/police check fees
• Pre-departure briefing
• Airport pickup on arrival
• In-country orientation as part of country programme network of international Lattitude volunteers
• Day to day support from your placement host and a member of staff as your mentor
• Accommodation and food (provided by your placement community)
• 24/7 support from Lattitude, including in-country support from local reps and the Lattitude Country Manager
• Focus on your personal volunteer learning and development
• Returned Volunteer follow up and Debrief Event
• Opportunity to join the Lattitude Alumni Association
• Certificate of completion and references (on request)

Other costs:

• £25 application fee
• International Flights
• Onward travel to placement (if applicable)
• Travel insurance
• Visa
• Inoculations (if applicable)
• Pocket Money for weekends/holidays/post-placement travel

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

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

Please note that the application 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 are currently accepting applications for departures in 2017 and 2018.