Mental Health Project - Aims & Initiatives

The Purpose of the Mental Health Workshops

The beating heart of the Mental Health Projects are the Morning Workshops. These workshops are active and engaging and are designed with our partners to be cross-cultural and impactful. If you were in any doubt about what the purpose of this is, read below.

The Purpose

The Morning Workshops on a Mental Health Project aim to stimulate conversation on the subject at a grassroots level. The discussions and activities themselves are taking place on behalf of our partners who are utilising international participants as a fantastic opportunity for these discussions to take place whilst also using the project itself as an outreach for existing initiatives, tailored to guide everyone involved to reflect on important topics and become leaders within their communities. Through fun and engaging collaboration with young Fijians of a similar age to yourself, we explore new perspectives, ideas and activities to promote positive mental health.  In line with the Fiji National Development Plan, and organisations such as Youth Champs 4 Mental Health, the long term aim is to equip Fiji’s youth with the tools to be ambassadors for mental health awareness, understanding and support in their communities.

The initiative also comes with the overriding purpose of encouraging attributes and awareness amongst young people in rural areas of Fiji, the leaders of tomorrow, where future change is made real in the next generation.

Funding from your participation also not only funds the initiative itself but contributes to year-round support the Think Pacific Foundation provides to our local partners and the community you visit.

Fijian Ambassadors for Mental Health

Crucial to the whole project is investing in Fiji’s youth to create sustainable solutions, capacity building and achieve mental health promotion long term.  Your project is the first introduction, conversation and activity surrounding mental health in rural areas.  What follows is 7 steps to achieve the training of local Fijian ambassadors, and implementation of sustainable local mental health support in rural villages.

Empowering Fiji’s Youth = Sustainability & Long Term Change

The long term aim is to help build communities that are knowledgeable and resilient in addressing issues surrounding mental health, providing support to community members facing mental health difficulties and establishing an enabling environment where local people are able to interact with others, contribute effectively to community decision making processes and be included in mental health activities.

Training of local youth ambassadors is delivered by leading mental health NGO’s and the Fijian Ministry of Health and funded by Think Pacific Foundation.  30% of your project fee funds the work of our Fijian charity.

Intended Learning Outcomes

For You

• Developing inter-cultural competence and ability to successfully communicate within a foreign cultural environment.
• Adaptability to changes in your own and foreign cultures.
• Tolerance: while working in teams, learn to listen more attentively, to respect each other’s opinion, team-work and team-spirit.
• Personal Skills: personability and set-up of sessions allows you to grow in confidence and communication.
• Appreciation of diversity: appreciation of the opinions and values of others, sensitivity to cultural diversity, and becoming more aware of your own context.
• Broader Perspective: Reconsider the cultural framework you have been brought up in and acquire skills that will enable you to observe and analyse encounters with diversity and to extend these beyond the framework of your own culture.
• Critical thinking.
• Soft skills: Presentation skills, time management, resilience, communication.

For Community Youth Members

• Engaging in topics that may be taboo subjects and coming to reflect on how they may be responded to on a community level.
• To encourage personal growth in the form of a boost in confidence, communication skills, team working, leadership, time management and presentation skills.
• Financial support for those involved and the youth group of the community.
• Any outstanding individuals can be highlighted for scholarship / employment opportunities.
• Appreciation of diversity: appreciation of the opinions and values of others, sensitivity to cultural diversity, and becoming more aware of their culture.
• Broader Perspective: Reconsider the cultural framework they have been brought up in and to acquire skills that will enable them to observe and analyse encounters with diversity and to extend these beyond the framework of their culture.
• Critical thinking.

During a Mental Health Project, there are 6 key focus areas we will ask each team to focus on in regards to tackling mental health.

These are derived as legitimate strategies to tackle the misconceptions and misinformation that can promote fear and shame associated with mental illness. This stigma can cause young people to lack help in seeking the support they need, or lead to negative coping mechanisms when dealing with stress. The age old saying “prevention is better than cure” is especially true when resources & training for ill-mental health are low on the ground. In Fiji today there remains just one psychiatric facility and just 3 doctors with postgraduate mental health training. Meanwhile, suicide rates in Fiji are concerning and continuing to rise.

Mental health is much more than the absence of illness, and anyone can experience challenges to their mental wellbeing. However, 42% of Fijians said they would be put off seeking any help due to embarrassment (Aghanwa 2004). If local mental health ambassadors can influence attitudes and understanding, then they can break the stigma surrounding discussing mental health.

Hear Matthew from Youth Champs 4 Mental Health talking more on why our project take the approach they do and why we believe them to be a successful outreach.

The 6 Focus Areas on Your Project

1.Advocacy Workshops

Each day, there will be a thematic focus and together with your team and youth group you shall support activities to promote learning, understanding and long-term action to promote aspects of positive mental health.

2. Healthy Habits

The project aims to help promote healthy habits within the communities and support advice from our government partners, including distributing messages about nutrition, diet, smoking, drugs and NCD awareness.  We work alongside Fiji’s National Wellness Centre and facilitate the Towards a Health Fiji Islands Initiative to link physical health benefits to mental health promotion by distributing government information.

3. Peer to Peer Support

You will assist in implementing strategies from Pacific charities, we create enabling spaces where young people feel able to talk about problems, open up and discuss their mental well being without judgement. Encourage peer-to-peer discussions and empower youths to be role models and support each other and their younger siblings in facilitating conversations and spreading positive messages.

4. Care Strategies

Establish and demonstrate self-care and well-being activities within rural villages. This may include organising community walks, women’s aerobics, dance, music, art, drama, swimming, nature walks, hiking, family time, journal writing, blogs or community talks.  These are activities that can be replicated and innovated by Fijian Youths.

5. Physical Activity

The benefits of sport and physical activity on our mental health are endless: improved mood, decreased chance of depression and anxiety, and a better and more balanced lifestyle. Any kind of physical activity can boost mental wellbeing – unleash your passion and help Fijian youths develop basic sports skills so they can run community, youth and children’s sports clubs long term.

6. Leadership

Engage in team building and group challenges in areas of communication, decision making, self-leadership, time management,  presentation skills, positive mindset and empathy which encompass effective leadership cross-culturally, advancing employability skills and boosting confidence.

Who are the Youth you are Working With?

The official definition of ‘Youth’ in Fiji according to the Ministry of Youth and Sports is anyone between the ages of 18-35. Villages in rural locations in Fiji more often than not have a registered ‘Youth Group’ that is made up of members of the village of that age. The extent to which that group is utilised within the village varies due to member commitments and their re-ignition is a real focus for the current Ministry of Youth.

Context

18-35 year olds in the village often come with a variety of backgrounds and life stories: some may have dropped out of school as early as the age of 14 who engage in farming within the village’s subsistence lifestyle, others may be returning university students or school finishers, but all will be gain from the interactions that the project facilitates. Due to a variety of reasons, rural communities in Fiji have a significantly lower access to opportunity to urban areas and the ‘Youth’ are the primary demographic to be affected by that. This means that fundamentally out projects are outreach initiatives promoting equal access to opportunity.

Why Work with Youth?

Youth are the new generation of leaders in Fiji and within communities. They are the target demographic for many of the advocacy efforts of our partners because of this. What is handy for your engagement on this project too is that you will be the same age as most of the people in the room… there is a real opportunity for cross-cultural exchange in an opportunity like this where you can look people in the eye who have very different experiences and backgrounds and learn from each other in a collaborative space.

In addition to the points above, we aim to support young people in rural areas by furthering their employability and employment opportunities, advising about and delivering local training and education opportunities, encouraging them to become local ambassadors for the Fiji National Development Plan and to continue advocacy with their peers and younger generations within rural areas of Fiji.

How do the Morning Workshops Work?

The sessions are facilitated collaboratively by TP volunteers and Fijian Youth in small groups and are delivered to the rest of the group involved in the project (18-35 year olds). There is a trained and qualified facilitator in every leadership team for a Mental Health project who will be able to offer guidance and advise with their expertise.

Logistics

Time commitment – 2 hours per day,  Monday – Friday for the duration of the project

Numbers – 1 project

• Team of 18-28 International Participants on the TP Team
• 3-4 TP leaders
• x20 Fijian Fijian Youth

x20 Youth are given $20 each day to attend the session as standard with any youth programme in Fiji (as they may be giving up time at the farm/fishing/households/daily life to attend). This is to be organised with the Turaga ni Koro who with the leaders, will arrange a register for those attending each day/week and make those payments weekly.

Background

The session aims are designed by our partners Youth Champs 4 Mental Health & The Ministry of Health who have sent through topics to be covered in their respective fields, activity plans and desired outcomes of the sessions. These activities and discussions delivered in rural communities align with their own objectives as experts in the field and support wider goals as addressed in the Fiji’s National Development Plan.

These initial plans have been formatted and compressed by Think Pacific to help guide our team and community youth to deliver the sessions, whilst also giving freedom to them to tailor the activities / languaging of the session according to their judgement of the particular community’s response.

Delivery

Volunteers will be able to choose which sessions they would be most interested in facilitating during team briefing. Youth will have the opportunity to decide during prep-visits , before the TP enter the village. There is a trained facilitator in every leadership team on a Mental Health Project who will be able to offer guidance and advise with their expertise.

The groups will then be displayed the workshop topics and plans during their briefing and can allocate themselves to deliver certain sessions in small groups (after discussion with leaders), allowing creative space for their own activity ideas as long as the core activities and themes are upheld.

Within the village, Sunday afternoon will be a crucial planning time for the sessions in the week coming.

Think Pacific Leaders support delivery of the programme where fit.

Resources and Evaluation

All resources for the workshops provided by Think Pacific, including a project box with a large variety of stationary and workshop based materials.

Oversight 

TP Leaders will oversee:

• Delivery Groups Selection
• Signing off on weekly agenda and activities
• Communication with Village and Youth Group.
• Liaising with management for reflections
• Assisting with delivery

Monitoring and Evaluation

Monitoring and Evaluation efforts continue post-project in every community we visit. This ensures long-term sustainability with further funding opportunities and highlighting scholarship opportunities post-project delivery for young people. There is a reflection period for the team to reflect on delivery and after the entire delivery period, we will then feedback to our partners through impact reports.

The Purpose of the Culture Course

Daru Vueta Tale Mada

“Culture is how we act, think, and behave based on the shared values of our society. It is everywhere, and we continually develop and define our culture on a daily basis.”

What is it?

The Culture Course is an experiential learning programme as standard with any rural Think Pacific project in line with requests from the Ministry of iTaukei Affairs. You will be immersed in rural Fijian culture throughout your project but this course intentionally goes deeper! Through immersion, the course aims to educate project participants about the nuances of indigenous Fijian culture through structured sessions delivered by members of the community youth group themselves and Think Pacific leaders.

Purpose

The course is set up to encourage an appropriate mindset from participants during the project, facilitate a meaningful experience for you but also works towards wider goals set out by the Ministry of iTaukei Affairs.

Fijian culture can be identified firmly as being an oral tradition – cultural knowledge is not written down and is transferred from generation to generation! A fear for many in Fiji’s current cultural climate that young people are not engaging with integral aspects of local custom and culture and knowledge is being lost. In line with requests from the Ministry of iTaukei affairs, this initiative aims to stimulate engagement with and revitalise local customs and traditions amongst rural youth. It aims to harness a pride in one’s culture and upbringing as well as practicing skills and communicating knowledge that defines the region and Fiji more broadly.

It ensures that all involved are learning cross-cultural skills through experience which they can not only support the rest of the aims during the project, but they can also utilise moving forward. This is not a one way street however as through discussing elements of indigenous Fijian culture in depth, both parties (participants and community members) will be simultaneously engaging in a cross-cultural examination of what makes up ‘culture’ and ‘people’ more broadly, exercising skills in appreciating new perspectives through discussion and reflection.

In addition, it is a clear opportunity to provide those youth leading the course a leadership opportunity, giving them a further platform to develop their soft-skills and boost personal and professional development.

The FNDP and SDGs

Fiji’s National Development Plan

By understanding the richness of Fijian culture still present today, whether through appreciating the crux of identity in understanding the vanua or the immense community wealth engrained in Fijian society, it is obvious why preserving these intricacies are crucial for the development of the country. There is also an economic incentive as Fiji’s economy is largely dependent on tourism, much of which is fuelled by cultural experience. In addition, with traditional skills and practices still commonplace, they form the basis for income-generation in many communities. With these combined, it is no surprise that Culture and Heritage holds its own plan for preservation and development in Fiji’s National Development Plan.

Fiji National Development Policy 3.1.10 – Culture and Heritage 

• Cultural heritage forms an essential part of Fijian identity, this includes language, food, rituals and arts.
• These need to be safeguarded and promoted for future generations.
• The National Culture Policy and National Culture and Education Strategy helps protect and preserve cultural heritage.
• The cultural mapping programme will be key to gather information on traditional knowledge and heritage.
• The use of local culture in the tourism industry will promote and protect cultural heritage and the “Fijian Crafted” campaign will help to promote cultural performances and traditional crafts.
• The Fiji Museum and the National Library will be upgraded thus contributing to the preservation of Fiji’s heritage.
• Artisan production will be scaled up to provide genuine and culturally appropriate goods to tourists.
• Cultural heritage sites will be protected.

The government aims to “protect and promote unique Fijian cultural heritage for sustainable development”

UN SDGs

The UN SDGs underpin Fiji’s National Development Plan. Although none of the 17 SDGs focuses exclusively on culture, it is integrated into a number of the goals and the ones below are particularly relevant to the outcomes of the FNDP found above:

• Target 4.7 refers to the aim to ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for global citizenship and the appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development.
• Target 8.3 addresses the promotion of development-oriented policies that support productive activities as well as, among others, creativity and innovation.
• Targets 8.9 and 12.b refer to the need to devise and implement policies to promote sustainable tourism, including through local culture and products, and to the need to develop suitable monitoring tools in this area.
• Target 11.4 highlights the need to strengthen efforts to protect and safeguard the world’s cultural and natural heritage.

Intended Learning Outcomes

For You:

• Learn in-depth about the lifestyle, culture and traditional skills that make up rural Fiji and importantly understand how they all relate and why.
• Develop inter-cultural competency and the ability to successfully communicate within a foreign cultural environment.
• Adaptability to changes in your own and foreign cultures.
• Tolerance: while working in teams, learn to listen more attentively, to respect each other’s opinion, team-work and team-spirit.
• Personal Skills: personability and set-up of sessions allows you to grow in confidence and communication.
• Appreciation of diversity: appreciation of the opinions and values of others, sensitivity to cultural diversity, and becoming more aware of your own culture.
• Broader Perspective: Reconsider the cultural framework you have been brought up in and acquire skills that will enable you to observe and analyse encounters with diversity and to extend these beyond the framework of your culture.
• Critical thinking.

For Community Youth Members

• Pride in their culture and upbringing and the practicing of traditional skills and knowledge.
• To encourage personal growth in the form of a boost in confidence, communication skills, team working, leadership, time management and presentation skills.
• Financial support for those involved and the youth group of the community.
• Any outstanding individuals can be highlighted for scholarship / employment opportunities
• Appreciation of diversity: appreciation of the opinions and values of others, sensitivity to cultural diversity, and becoming more aware of their culture.
• Broader Perspective: Reconsider the cultural framework they have been brought up in and to acquire skills that will enable them to observe and analyse encounters with diversity and to extend these beyond the framework of their culture.
• Critical thinking.

How does it work?

So you understand the purpose of the Culture Course and what it is… but how does it work? You will be undertaking cultural education sessions delivered by youth members of the community under four main themes of culture, all the way to the final showcase to complete the course at the end on a high. Read below for more details:

Themes

Four themes:

• Identity and Custom
• Perspective
• Art
• Food

These categories are not mutually exclusive as almost all of them will relate to at least another one of those categories. (Eg. Meke would come under the category ‘art’ but can easily also relate to identity and language, even food.)

What they can be used for, however, is structuring each week consistently with other projects whilst allowing for local variations on each category. If x2 sessions from all categories are hit and delivered, that will make up the successful completion of the course.

Each session may include a discussion element and then a practical element. Villages may choose which areas or sessions they feel most comfortable with delivering and talking about and select from those categories to create an itinerary. This will normally be agreed upon during the prep visit ahead of the team’s arrival.

Logistics

Time commitment – 2 hours per day,  Monday – Friday x2 weeks (10 days)

Numbers – 1 project

• Team of 18-22 participants
• x2 Fijian Leaders, x2 international leaders
• 5 Community Youth Members

Donation to Youth Group – $2000

Delivery

x5 key youth members will be highlighted by the community during prep-visits. These will be consistent members who would be learning delivery. Any other youth are thoroughly encouraged to take part but we know that the core 5 will always be ready to get involved.

Community Youth are expected to lead sessions based on what they feel comfortable delivering and facilitating with the community and TP leaders are there to support. Discussions had with youth during prep visits to lay out and agree on an itinerary for the 10 days (+ weekends).

In addition, although they can have free creative license (there may be a unique tradition that they wish to include), to support and give some ideas, the manual will be beneficial providing not only an outline of the course, the purpose, but also plenty of session ideas to give them ideas and for them to use if they are ever stuck. These session plans will not be leading (not making every project a carbon copy of the other), every village is unique and can add its own flavour.

Completion

There are a couple of aspects to the way we end the course but the main aim is to demonstrate learning outcomes whilst feeling like a fitting end to the time in the village.

Completion Criteria 

We believe it is beneficial to have both a practical element to completing the course as well as a reflective one… It combines both experiential learning and critical reflection.

1. Showcase 

Live performance of one of the ‘art’ components learnt: a learnt meke / vucu to the village at the end of project. If you take part, you have sealed off the experience.

This would coincide with a big grog session (celebration) and the official end of the project on the final night / final appropriate night as an official part of the project.

Purpose:

• To demonstrate commitment to the program
• To demonstrate appreciating and learning new skills
• Great fun.

2. Top 3s

After the showcase to the village, each participant picks three main observations/appreciations of their experience in comparing their own culture with Fiji’s, expanding on what they have learnt. This may be shared with the village at the end of the project during a final celebration, taking turns to present to them. (Brownie points if shared in Fijian!)

The village youth delivering the sessions will also do the same. May include what they learnt during the experience and how they found delivering it.

Purpose

• Provides opportunity for critical reflection
• Practices public speaking
• Would ensure a fitting and heartfelt end to the project itself.

No Superheroes, No Saviours. Just Thoughtful Collaboration, Challenge and Understanding…

Setting You Up For Success.

You won’t change the world on a TP project (or any volunteer project).  But with us, you will be able to make a small and real contribution. International development is complex. International volunteering organisations can be a real mixed bag of quality.If you’re reading this then we know you’re someone who likes to delve deeper and consider carefully – which is wonderful!

You join a project for a short period of time, but with Think Pacific your impact is part of a long-term plan, which achieves sustainable charity initiatives. In other words, you become a chess piece in a much bigger game of chess! Our projects are hugely inspiring and rewarding for communities and Fijian youth in Fiji and continue to achieve empowering and sustainable results. To progress our impact further, we’re looking for individuals who really want to learn about Fiji, embrace a new way of life and test yourself in unfamiliar settings. If you come to Fiji with this mindset and  a positive ‘can do’ attitude, we promise, you’ll work on genuinely sound initiatives, which are making a real contribution at a local level – A programme that breeds global understanding, fosters youth development and is demanding but carefully designed to match to your skill level.  We also know the project is a real challenge, but that living at the heart of a Fijian village is just about the biggest, most reflective and most memorable life lesson you can have.

Where Does Your Impact Come From?

Using external participation to boost internal opportunity 

Think Pacific does not need to exist, but we aim to act as a surplus of support. When you are joining a Think Pacific program, you are funding initiatives that happen on the ground whilst also witnessing and participating in their delivery – seeing that action unfold in-country. You are essentially providing important resources and your own time that can be re-distributed to support a uniquely Fijian approach to development. This is a unique learning opportunity for you that does not replace opportunities for local engagement, it actually has a place in creating them; boosting local employment opportunities and boosting the stability, sustainable growth and capacity of our Fijian partners.

Our 9-Step Process To Crafting Each Project

Creating The Most Sustainable Impact Possible

Volunteering With Us Means…

Accountability & Local Oversight 

Did you know? Many volunteer organisations act as a ‘middle man’ for local NGOs and charities abroad. This can cause conflicts of interest, unrealistic expectations and mixed messages. As a UK social enterprise (Think Pacific) and a registered Fijian charitable Trust (Think Pacific Foundation), with over 100 annual staff in Fiji, we provide whole oversight and accountability of the projects and wider local aims of training, monitoring and sustainability.

Fundamental to this model, every Think Pacific project is planned in collaboration and at the request of communities and local organisation and directed and monitored by Fijian Ministries to ensure our projects have real purpose and long term sustainability. We are respected for working within the framework of the government, adding immediate benefit to long-term strategies through projects themselves and continued funding provided year round. This includes driving forward the aims of Fiji’s National Development Plan and being a key facilitator of the Ministry of Health’s Towards a Healthy Fiji Islands Initiative.

So rather than imposing our own ideals, the projects themselves and your participation are designed to wholly support localised objectives through supporting our partners. And on a mindset level, you know exactly what is expected of you during the delivery of project… a huge opportunity to learn and a engage in what is a fascinating exercise of cross-cultural dialogue.