15-Day Sport Project in Fiji
In Partnership with the Fijian Government
Join a Sports project in Fiji and experience the unique culture, customs and way of life in the South Pacific islands. Make lifelong friendships and shared memories on a challenging team project, whilst gaining global experience, developing unique skills and making a real contribution.
Whether you are looking to boost employability or embark on a self-developing adventure, join a team and work alongside rural Fijian communities on local initiatives which are achieving groundbreaking results.
- Meaningful 15-day project in the Fiji Islands.
- In Partnership with the Fijian Government.
- Work in a traditional Fijian village
- Stay in nearby hotel accommodation
- Coach and play sports in Fiji
- Learn a new culture
- Develop skills, meet like-minded people and make a contribution.
- Project includes; flights, food, accommodation, 24/7 in-country support, weekend adventures, domestic travel, charity donatiom
- Experience; Gain hands-on work placement experience.
- Contribution; Make an impact on sustainable development goals.
- Challenge; Expand your comfort zone and throw yourself into South Pacific life.
- Learn; Learn a new culture by experiencing the ‘Kaiviti’ lifestyle.
- Skills; Develop ‘soft skills’ such as teamwork, communication & leadership.
- Memories; Create memories and friendships that will last a lifetime.
Team Challenge + Cultural Immersion + Contribution = Huge Personal Growth
Say goodbye to everyday life and arrive in the tropical South Seas. You will land at Nadi Airport where you will meet your team and begin preparing for your project ahead
Every expedition starts with a 3 day briefing at a resort. This is time for you to get to know your team mates, acclimatise, prepare for life in the village and meet our Fijian partners.
Each day you will travel to a traditional village and work on sports initiatives in the mornings and collaborate with Fijian youth in the Pacific Skills ‘Culture Course’ in the afternoons.
‘Vakavanua‘ translates to ‘in the way of the land.’ After village orientation, some of your greatest experiences will be the simple activities of experiencing Fijian life.
Enjoy trips to local sites of cultural interest or relevance to your project and exciting weekend adventures to local rock pools or beaches.
We finish the project by enjoying your final 1 night of de-brief. This is time to rest, relax and reflect as a group as we discuss the project goals and celebrate project achievements.
All our focus is on Fiji.
Authentic Experiences
Teams of up to 25 students.
Targeted sustainable development.
Facilitating Fijian Government objectives
Our projects offer you the opportunity to experience a traditional village, whilst staying in a nearby hotel accommodation. You will travel each day with your team to contribute to a community development initiative that supports the achievement of the Fiji National Development Plan and UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Do you have a passion for sport? Have you ever wondered what it would be like to explore that passion with some of the most passionate sports enthusiasts on the planet? If so, our 1-month Sports Project in Fiji could be the most purposeful, adventurous and life-changing month of your life.
In partnership with Fiji National Sports Commission, The Ministry of Sport and National Sports Organisations, we develop training, structure and coaching practices with youth groups in Fiji, as well as using physical activity and exercise to promote health and wellbeing community-wide.
An outreach programme for rural communities, each morning you will collaborate with members of a Fijian youth group (aged 18-35 year olds) to develop technique and skills of your favourite sports at grass roots level. In small groups, mixed international participants and community members, a variety of sports will be delivered at your discretion to not only focus on improving technique, knowledge of developing an effective structured session and the dedicated planning and intention behind a session, it promoted physical activity in a fun way, supporting the aims of our partners in rural communities.
50% of the project’s aims and objectives, you will be on the receiving end of an initiative in partnership with the Ministry of iTaukei Affairs (Arts, Heritage and Culture). You will learn about Fiji’s culture from those who know it best, the youth in your village, as they deliver an interactive cultural education course that boosts their own skills and cultural competency. Appreciating and celebrate traditional Fijian lifestyle specific to each village.
Supporting the Fiji National Development Plan through Community Sports and Physical Activity
Sport is a passion for Fiji, it is a love that runs deep across the whole country. Because of this, sport is used as a tool to promote health and wellness for rural communities by many of our partner organisations. Fiji is facing a national health crises, with the highest rates of NCDs in the world, caused by changing diet and lack of activity for specific groups, particularly women, children and the elderly. These projects are a fantastic opportunity to, at a community level, boost energy with outside participation and begin developing the confidence and knowledge of the next layer of community leaders, the youth. The sport sessions on the project are fun and engaging, but there is more to them than just playing the game! Think of a sports camp… now place that in a Fijian village… that’s what this project is.
An integral part of the process of delivering a sport session effectively, there is structured time during the week for you and your group to sit down and really think about what you are going to deliver and how. There will be guidance provided to you by your leaders about what may need to be included in your sessions, but ultimately you have creative licence with your group! The discussion here is important and allows you to be fully ready to deliver when the time comes.
You and your group must be able to comfortably explain the purpose behind each drill, warm up, cool down and session as a whole. This is a fundamental part of planning an activity and a great skill to practice.
Next step is to lead your session and if you need any support, qualified project leaders will be on hand to help. The group that designed the session will lead all aspects and deliver it to the rest of the participants, international and community youth. Each project will consist of roughly 20 international participants and 20 Fijian youth.
A crucial step of the process is reflection, a debrief with everyone involved in the session each day. It is a lovely chance for you to give yourself a pat on the back after undertaking the session and also a chance for constructive feedback to be shared as a group.
All sport sessions are planned and delivered during the project in small groups within the village. Each group is made up of both international and community participants and it is this interaction which is part of the project focus, where discussions and collaborations benefit all involved. These sessions are open to creativity and equipment will be provided. If you’re passionate and you’ve discussed it with your team, any sport is on the cards.
You will not be left alone to do this and we are not expecting you to be an expert; project leaders (Think Pacific staff members) lead every aspect of your experience and at least one of the individuals in your leadership will be a trained Fijian representative of one of our partner organisations that sit heavily in the sporting space. They will be able to guide you and assist you should you need support during the planning or delivery of the sport sessions.
The sessions are then led by a small group and delivered to the rest of the group in a fun and supportive space. There may also be opportunities to create and deliver sessions for other demographics in the village (children and over 35s) and we expect every project to end with a sports big village sports tournament.
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.
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 than urban areas and the ‘Youth’ are the primary demographic to be affected by that. This means that fundamentally our projects are outreach initiatives.
The Culture Course is an experiential learning programme as standard with any rural Think Pacific project. 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.
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.
Central to any rural Think Pacific experience, the course has an agreed and consistent structure that is delivered across all projects. This ‘syllabus’ allows room for local variation of skills and knowledge but also remains consistent across villages. This syllabus therefore is made up of ‘themes’ rather than specific universal sessions.
Four themes explored:
- 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.
x5 key youth members are highlighted by the community prior to your project beginning. These will be consistent members who would be leading delivery. Community youth will lead the sessions based on what they feel comfortable delivering and facilitating within the community and Think Pacific leaders are there to support. They can have free creative license to teach about any aspect of culture they feel passionate about (there may be a unique tradition that they wish to include), and there are a variety of interactive actives that come under the four themes of culture we’re exploring. Every village is unique and therefore every project has its own flavour.
Our aim is to provide a fully inclusive programme from start to finish. Each programme is inclusive of all accommodation, transport and logistical aspects and activities within Fiji and all meals.
The programme is also guided 24/7 by our in-country team, with the full and comprehensive backup of our Fiji HQ and extensive management team.
Think Pacific has over a decade of experience working with local suppliers and only uses resorts and providers, which are approved by Directors, meet our high standards and have received great previous university feedback
Full inclusions list:
- All Accommodation for 14 nights/15 days
- All in-country transportation by private mini bus using approved suppliers
- All meals as per itinerary
- 2x Think Pacific leaders living alongside the group 24/7.
- 24 hour emergency support from Fiji HQ and UK office
- Site visits, workshops and activities as per itinerary
- Airport welcome by Think Pacific Expedition leaders
- Cultural orientation, project briefing and workshops by highly experienced local staff
- Guest speakers from Think Pacific’s influential local partner network including government representatives, academics or local business and charity leaders.
- Guided weekend activities
- Organised cultural activities such as including kava ceremonies, lovo feasts, mat weaving, meke dancing.
- Outstanding pastoral support and daily health and wellness check ins.
- Daily briefing and de-brief
- In-country branch managers, project managers and UK team providing planning, risk assessment and 24-hour backup support.
- Comprehensive online portal & personal volunteer project planning resources
- Programme debrief at beach resort
The following costs are not inclusive of the programme fee. However, Think Pacific provides comprehensive and personalised support to assist:
- Flights (falls within 12,000 Km / £1300 budget for Turing, which should be achievable)
- Travel insurance
- UK transfers to and from home or college to Airport
- Additional spending money (snacks, drinks, souvenirs or activities)
- Vaccinations: These can be free from the NHS for most students but can also cost approximately £35. The recommended vaccinations include Typhoid and Hepatitis A.
Throughout the itinerary students will stay in shared rooms within popular, clean and approved beach resorts and hotels (twin-share or max 6 per room). Resorts and accommodations have been used by Think Pacific groups successfully since 2009.
Think Pacific provides comprehensive support to universities as required. Universities are provided with a dedicated and experienced director to oversee the entire program from start to return with specific areas of responsibility designated from the outset. Our services with the programme fee include
- Full Promotion of programme including webinars or presentations and content
- Management of all applications and creation of custom application pages
- Careful communication with all enquiries
- Pre-departure support and live zoom sessions
- Visa paperwork support
- Pre-departure Portal – A comprehensive portal for all travel essentials and latest advice for flights, insurance and kit list, vaccinations and more.
- Pre-Departure Hub – Our own pre-departure group for live enquiries, chat and student networking, available to download as an App.
- Live seminars on cultural awareness, cross-cultural and Fiji preparation
- Global Skills – Our online portal with courses in Fijian Culture, Global Awareness, Sustainability, Leadership and Global Career Skills.
