Vunilagi Book Club
Vunilagi Children’s Bookclub, a charitable volunteer-led initiative based in Fiji, partners with communities to create reading programs that boost literacy and confidence in young readers, empowering children and fostering lifelong learning.
What are your mission and values?
1. Empowerment:
Promoting reading, books, and other literacy resources that help children develop their cognitive skills to read, write, learn, and communicate effectively with the world around them.
2. Accessibility:
Ensure every child, especially those from vulnerable backgrounds or rural/maritime communities have books and tools to help them read. Children’s socio-economic backgrounds must not deny them access to reading and books.
3. Inclusivity:
Reading books that show different cultures, languages, and stories helps every child see themselves in the stories and learn about other people too.
4. Safe Reading Spaces:
Create safe spaces that are welcoming and clean for children to read and engage with books. Protect the dignity of children by treating each child as a precious gift from God who is to be safeguarded from all types of abuse, violence, or exploitation.
5. Character Development:
Use reading and books to help children grow different qualities and values that develop children’s characters and behaviours.
6. Creativity:
Encouraging children to use their creativity and imagination by exploring different kinds of stories and ways to tell them. Help children to tell, write, and draw their own stories and books, inspiring a new generation of authors and illustrators from the community or village setting.
7. Critical Thinking:
Encourage children to think carefully about the information they read and ask important questions that will help them develop informed opinions, understanding, and critical thinking.
8. Foster the Love of Reading and Books:
Make reading fun and exciting through rewarding programmes that include games, presentations, songs, music, and interactive activities.
9. Support:
Provide additional support through parents and communities to nurture, guide, and encourage children’s literacy development.
10. Equity:
Help address and reduce disparities in literacy rates among vulnerable communities to advocate for equal accessibility and opportunities for children.
What are your long term aims and vision for your organization, ministry or business?
1- Promote Literacy & Cognitive Development
Address the literacy gap in Pacific Island nations, particularly Fiji and the Marshall Islands.
Provide reading sessions, tutorials, and resources to help children develop reading comprehension and critical thinking skills.
2- Accessibility & Equity
Ensure children, especially from vulnerable backgrounds, have access to quality books and reading programs.
Reduce literacy disparities among communities by providing support and educational opportunities.
3 -Inclusivity & Cultural Representation
Foster an environment where children see themselves in stories by incorporating diverse cultures, languages, and narratives.
Encourage the creation of local literature by nurturing young writers and illustrators.
4 -Safe & Supportive Reading Spaces
Create welcoming and clean spaces where children feel safe to learn and engage with books.
Uphold child protection standards, safeguarding children from violence, abuse, or exploitation.
5 -Sustainable & Impact-Driven Programs
Establish structured reading sessions, community libraries, and book clubs in multiple locations (Fiji, Beqa Island, Marshall Islands).
Strengthen partnerships with educators, parents, and local organizations to sustain literacy initiatives.
Implement monitoring and evaluation processes to measure the impact of literacy programs.
6 -Character Development & Creativity
Use books to instill values, foster imagination, and encourage storytelling and self-expression.
Promote reading as a tool not just for education but for personal growth and life skills.
7- Community Engagement & Capacity Building
Train volunteers, parents, and educators to support children’s literacy journeys.
Explore formal partnerships (MOUs) with institutions to provide tutoring and mentorship programs.
What are your long term aims and vision for Fiji?
Expansion to more vulnerable communities: Scaling operations to serve more children in rural and maritime areas.
Development of a structured curriculum for community literacy interventions.
Strengthening financial sustainability through fundraising, donor partnerships, and institutional collaborations.
Advocacy for literacy in national education policies to influence broader systemic change.
1- Financial Constraints & Sustainability
Limited Budget & Funding:
VBC currently operates on a small budget from existing funds and fundraising efforts.
The cost of running reading sessions, book donations, and community programs often exceeds available funds.
The need to raise additional funds for activities like Beqa Island outreach, Rescue Reading Tutorials, and infrastructure improvements (e.g., a dedicated reading space) poses a significant challenge.
Difficulty in Securing Donors & Grants:
Finding sustainable, long-term funding partners or institutional donors is challenging.
Reliance on one-off donations rather than recurring funding sources limits the ability to scale programs.
2 – Human Resource & Capacity Limitations
Lack of Full-Time Staff & Heavy Reliance on Volunteers:
The organization depends on volunteers to run reading sessions, tutorials, and administrative tasks.
Volunteers may have limited availability, impacting consistency in program delivery.
There is a need for capacity-building programs to train more community educators and literacy coaches.
Difficulty in Scaling Due to Limited Team Capacity:
Expanding programs to new locations (such as Beqa Island and the Marshall Islands) requires more human resources and logistical coordination.
Managing multiple reading sites with a small core team limits program growth.
3- Growth vs. Delivery Challenges
Balancing Expansion & Effective Program Delivery:
The organization aims to grow by reaching more communities, but expansion risks stretching resources too thin.
Ensuring quality and consistency in reading sessions and tutorials while expanding to new locations is a challenge.
There is a need to develop a structured curriculum for community-based literacy programs.
4 – Awareness & Community Engagement
Parental & Community Support:
Some parents may not actively participate in their children’s reading development, limiting the impact of literacy programs.
Advocacy efforts are needed to shift mindsets about the importance of early literacy.
Visibility & Branding Challenges:
VBC could benefit from stronger marketing, outreach, and storytelling to attract more supporters and funding.
Lack of digital presence or promotional efforts may limit awareness about the organization’s impact and funding needs.
Choose Your Action Project
AP 87-01
Design, implement, and manage a comprehensive volunteer recruitment campaign across various social media platforms
AP 87-02
Develop and customize donor acknowledgment templates that express gratitude and recognize contributions.
AP 87-03
Develop comprehensive volunteer on-boarding content to ensure a smooth and engaging introduction to the organization.
AP 87-04
Develop standardized policy templates that provide clear guidelines and frameworks for organizational operations
AP 87-05
Design and develop a user-friendly mobile app for the Vunilagi Bookclub, a volunteer-based initiative. The app should facilitate volunteer coordination, book-sharing, event scheduling, and member engagement.