Volunteer: Alternative Livelihoods and Community Empowerment in Fiji

Duration: 2-12 weeks commitment

Start Dates: This project is ongoing and you can join whenever suits you best, depending upon availability.

Cost: from 1,295 GBP for 2 weeks.

Fee Includes: all food, accommodation, pre-departure + in-country support, orientation and all project related activities

Does not Include: flights, airport pickup, travel insurance, personal spending, visas and vaccinations

Please note: This opportunity is designed to give you the contacts and experience to help further your career. You are not replacing any member of staff, but helping alongside them, whilst learning new skills.

Benefits

• Help to support alternative livelihoods in a small rural Fijian community;
• Visit idyllic traditional Fijian villages and be immersed in the Fijian way of life
• Opportunities to explore much further in off time
• Island hopping; hiking to waterfalls; dolphin watching; scuba diving; snorkelling, traditional ceremonies; relaxing on beautiful beaches; climbing mountains; enjoying breath-taking scenery; meeting inspirational people; making new friends
• Make a serious difference helping to support alternative livelihoods.

Introduction

By joining this project, you will team up with other participants to contribute to various community development initiatives and be offered the opportunity to assist with alternative income generation strategies for members of local communities. Your tasks may also include working with the locals in assessing the needs of the village, monitoring waste management systems and creating recycling depots, to name just a few.

Before initiating any projects, research is conducted and community groups and leaders are consulted to determine the relevant issues that need to be addressed. Participants work on various different projects depending on when they join the program. If there is a need at that time, you may also have the opportunity to work with the villagers on alternate ways to generate income.

This program works to assist villagers in creating systems to address areas such as waste management and recycling. There may also be the opportunity, depending on the needs of the community at that time, to assist them with learning how to adapt their livelihoods in response to the changing pressures on traditional life, as a result of ongoing environmental and social change. We focus on empowering communities by actively engaging important issues involved with the factors that inform their quality of life, such as access to fresh water, access to education, food security, and alternative options for income generation. In this way, participants collaborate with us to genuinely make a positive contribution to both the landscape and ecosystem in the region.

You will effectively help to research, support, create and maintain community development initiatives and will be provided with the opportunity to work on income generating initiatives for the locals. Some tasks may include assisting in creating handicrafts made from recycled materials, researching new project development possibilities, determining where there is a need and if the community can do anything to supply in this need, identifying and supporting access to new markets, and developing vegetable garden projects

Daily Life

This project promotes the sustainable and progressive empowerment of communities through direct grass roots level interaction. Our goal is to help these communities to live healthy, sustainable, and environmentally aware lives through the successful management of natural resources and the implementation of applicable environmental technology. It is only through our collaboration with the communities that we can be successful on a large scale.

You can expect to be involved in any of the following focuses dependent on community needs at the time;

Community Workshops -All our projects involve consultative and educational workshops with community members.

Waste Management Programme – Most villages in Fiji rely on burning or burying household waste as there are no waste disposal services available in such remote areas. We have therefore designed and are constructing recycling points throughout the district for people to use as an alternative.

Kitchen Garden Workshop – Both men and women expressed an interest in bettering their understanding of how to grow particular foods to help feed their families.

Nutrition – Following on from the Kitchen Garden workshops, volunteers have also begun developing workshops focusing on nutrition.

Workshops still to be developed – Members of the community also expressed an interest in the following workshops, which have been tabled for future development including child development, climate change, plantation farming and small business skills. If you have expertise in any of these areas, or special knowledge, please let us know as we strive to utilise volunteers and maximise their effectiveness when on the project.

Please note: all information above is subject to change. Please check the most up to date information on the Global Nomadic website when applying.