Education: A higher priority

They come like angels, willingly giving a hand and return to their home content with what they have accomplished before they are branched out gain on their own. What lies ahead of them after a journey of volunteering is usually an eye opener initiated by their generous help and exploration off  of their own land of birth. Take for instance the life of the newly welcomed US ambassador to Fiji Frankie A Reed. Being a former  peace corp volunteer and journalist at a young age of 15 she is a great example and one  which many especially student journalists in Fiji and the Pacific islands can learn from and can look up to.  However, she had stated in an article by the Fiji Times that her charitable work of upgrading and improving the life of the less fortunate continued through helping ou t girls achieve better academic qualifications . Ms Reed stated in the Fiji Times article;

"I do a lot of work with girls' education and I've done that over the years. Girls even in the US are just beginning to focus on certain professions that traditionally have been all male and so I tend to work with some of the young women in most countries."

Ms Reed’s continous work with improving the lives of young women are no doubt out of  her interest in volunteership which she had experieced prior to joining the Foreign Service in 1983. She says giving a helping hand in a allowing education for those who find difficulties is her key focus. This brings me to another matter of interest which most volunteers in Fiji seem to engage in when they arrive.  Many who are volunteers in the outter islands or remote parts of  Fiji and in other islands of the Pacific  Yet, ofcourse a big thumbs up to the many more who would like to engage in the education system of Fiji during their volunteership.

 Most of us are aware that we need all the help we can get in educating the young ones particularly those away from facilitated areas. The volunteers on Moturiki island in the Lomaiviti group of Fiji are a few of the many who are young  and heavily involved in the daily classes of primary school students in that area.  Even though they admit that the teaching volunteer projects are exhausting, they realise how much fun as well as of a great help they have been to the local schools and kindergartens of Moturiki island. A big vinaka vakalevu to the local and international volunteers who have gone about Fiji and the Pacific to help in the schools and classes in the rural areas.

The picture is of a volunteer teaching in a school on the island of Moturiki. Source: Think Pacific

With volunteers coming into the country and participating in local schools as teaching assistants and so forth, we must also ensure that academics or local teachers do not take advantage of their help yet also assist them during class. They may mostly need help in interpretation and explanation of traditions and culture. Otherwise, it is also a great experience for them as well to be learning something new.