Final Reflections

The final days of my three weeks in Fiji were very crazy- lots of work both at the National Trust and for our course, sad farewells and gift- buying. Doing an internship with the National Trust and the various events associated with the program has allowed me to gain an insight into the country, people and culture that I could never have imagined from just simply travelling. Interestingly, my next door neighbours were in Fiji at the same time staying in a resort on one of the outer islands. It was a perfect family holiday for them, yet it sounded very similar to our last night in Nadi when I know that many of us were frustrated by the ‘Fijian dance shows,’ the endless souvenir shopping and the lack of activities apart from lazing on a beach. It made me realize how different my experiences were from the initial idyllic expectations that I had from our pre- departure sessions back in Canberra.

Farwell Dinner on the Monday Night

Farewell Party at the National Trust

The most memorable part of the experience was the people- how welcoming everyone was; the smiles and the genuine caring nature of the people from work, the Colonial Lodge and the Conservatorium of Music Students. The pride and passion for their work whether it be traditional dance or environmental conservation has been something I have been very impressed with. Of course there were some negative aspects. I was at some points frustrated by ‘Fiji time’- the endless waiting, the lack of organization in the work place which I felt lost a lot of resources and work hours. However this was part of the experience and I felt I have learnt a lot about ‘going with the flow.’ The past three weeks have been intense, but full of amazing experiences and memories. I have enjoyed getting to know the other ANU students, Nikki, the National Trust staff and the Conservatorium of Music students. I am still very much in denial about returning to reality even though I have been back in Australia for nearly a week now!

Vinaka vakalevu

Trip to Levuka

At the end of our third week in Fiji we went on a trip to the old capital, Levuka. I was particularly excited about this visit as I had learnt about this site last week at the National Trust Workshop from the Levuka Community Centre site managers. It is currently on the World Tentative List earmarked to be a World Heritage Site. Most recently it was rejected from the listing due to the large space that was proposed to be protected, therefore the current work on this project is reducing the protected areas to four or five key sites including the MH building (now the Community centre), the Sacred Heart Church, the old Marist College school and two of the shops. I initially thought that the request to reduce the size of the protected area was illogical, as I thought it would reduce the ability for conservation, however the impetus behind this is to ensure that it is a manageable project for the available staff.

On Friday morning I met up with the two park rangers who I had met last week- Tombassi (my apologises for the spelling!) and Lydia at the MH Community Centre. Despite being quite out- dated in terms of displays and books, it is well- looked after and very interesting. It includes a small museum, a large space for events such as Library Week Book Parades, a library and a reading corner. It is primarily targeted at school- aged children for after- school activities and holiday programs, however when I was visiting there was also a group of businessmen having a meeting in the centre illustrating that it is a central point for all Levuka people.

The rest of the trip was spent exploring the streets and swimming in the ocean. I found that there was a very stark difference between Levuka and Suva- it is much smaller, safer and even more friendly, if that was possible! The town is very small, consisting of one main street and a huge fish factory. It felt like stepping back in time with the colonial influence clear in the old shop fronts. We were staying at Mary's Lodge, which is run by Suzie's sister. It was great to see Mossi again- we have missed him!



Apart from the time we spent in Levuka, the bus and boat trip was fascinating. Watching out the window during the bus rides through villages provided so many examples of the initiative and resourcefulness of Fijians- houses decorated with shells, gardens made out of old tyres, beach volley ball courts made out of bamboo.

I was also fascinated by the endless amounts of trucks and buses exiting what looked like a tiny ship. At one point there was chaos with four buses reversing at the same point, yet magically they ended up in a line of four perfect reverse parks. I feel like this has been my entire experience in Fiji- an appearance of chaos and disorganization yet the final product has order.

Watching the sunrise on Saturday on the ship returning to Suva was a moment that I was will never forget. We were all exhausted with a busy weekend ahead of us- but it was just so beautiful!

Christmas Party with the Conservatorium of Music

One of the most memorable experiences of the trip so far was the Conservatorium of Music Christmas Party this Wednesday at Vadrai Village. It was a very relaxing day full of water games, rugby, volleyball and, of course, music!

Rugby on the beach

Relaxing in the shade

We also met Master Lai’s brother who came walking out of the ocean carrying a HUGE supply of lobsters and fish in preparation from a celebratory feast for a relative arriving from America the following day. This celebration of kinship and family is something I find very special in Fiji.

The Conservatorium of Music students have been a big part of our adventure here in Fiji. From the beginning they have been welcoming and always ready to join us for a night out or invite us to a musical performance. Each of the students major in a particular instrument or voice; they participate in the dancing as they believe in and our proud of the traditional dances of Fiji. From talking to the students money does not seem to be the main impetus, as the majority of the fees for their concerts are reverted back into the Fijian Arts Council. The commitment was also astounding and goes against the common conception of Fijians as relaxed’ and, in some respects, lazy or at least not worried about deadlines. These students have class from 8am- 1pm and then dance rehearsals all afternoon! These students and the dances that they learn and perform for both local and international audiences are also a key example of combining ‘culture’ and ‘development’ as espoused by Hooper. As I mentioned in an earlier post, the Conservatorium dancers have performed at the Shanghai Expo, in Canada, in Hong Kong and they are planning a trip to Australia next year- combining traditional dance and culture with a source of income.

Work at the National Trust Headquarters

This week at the National Trust we will be working at the headquarters office writing up our proposal for educational program at the Sigatoka Sand Dunes. It is nice to have some time to finally get our ideas down on paper as we spent our first week in Sigatoka and the second at the NT workshop. Today was, however, the first time I felt frustrated by ‘fiji time.’ It is quite difficult to see the lack of organization regarding archiving. After working all day on a potential education program one of the staff members found a past project on the Sand Dunes and gave it to us in an off- hand manner. Also during my internet research for education programs I had come across an article in 2007 written by a British exchange student who had spent 6months recording the oral histories of the surrounding villages. When I asked about these stories the staff were unable to find them. It is frustrating to see these resources being under- utilized or poorly organized, especially when I have overall found the staff very positive and resourceful and full of initiative. Despite this, I am also starting to wish we were here for longer than three weeks. A lot of the projects I am hearing about are very long term and I feel sad leaving before I can seeing many of the projects being put in place.

The BeachHouse

This weekend we had an insight into what most tourists experience in Fiji- the island paradise. We were staying at the BeachHouse a luxury backpackers resort with sole travellers, groups of backpackers, schoolies, surfing groups, couples and a Fijian shipping company Christmas party which annually celebrates at the BeachHouse- quite a mix!



I believe these are the images that Fiji largely portrays to the world in their travel brochures and travel advertisements:






Apart from being a great comparison for our course here in Fiji, It was also a perfect time to have a relaxing two days- it was a chance to reflect on the past busy two weeks and realize we only have one week left!

National Trust Workshop 2011

This week is the 2011 National Trust Annual Workshop. The idea of this workshop is to bring together the many branches of the National Trust across Fiji for a week to present their achievements and challenges for 2011. This is important for a bigger picture understanding of how the National Trust is organized and the links that exist between the different projects. It is also a chance to share ideas so it is quite an exciting and enthusiastic atmosphere. In relation to our work project, it is useful for myself and Hannah to see what educational programs there are in, for example the Levuka Heritage Site, which could be utilized at the Sigatoka Sand Dunes in their new education centre. Our role for this week is to take minutes and prepare a report on the presentations by the end of this week to determine the key gaps in each site using the NT Strategic Plan for 2008- 2012 as a yardstick. It is quite a time- consuming task; however it is giving us a very comprehensive introduction to the NT.

Doing fire emergency planning Learning how to use a fire extinguisher

NT Staff relaxing at lunch time Park Manager (Jason) and Ranger (Salome) with the Sigatoka Sand Dunes Display

I found the article by Hau'ofa to be very insight with his assertion that development should occur from a grass- roots approach as 'only when we focus on what ordinary people are actually doing, rather than on what they should be doing, [that] we can see the broader picture of reality.' I found this particularly important when learning how the NT heritage sites are initially established. Often the NT sites are government imposed with little community involvement. This is the case for the Sigatoka Sand Dunes, which is only now, several years after its establishment, moving towards incorporating community input in initiatives such as school outreach, community workshops (on waste management and fire control) and community safety patrols. Another three NT sites Bouma, Koroyanitu and Waisali rainforests offer an alternative approach. These are 4yr long projects designed to be eventually run completely by local communities thus from the beginning the NT attempts to convey a sense of ownership upon the local landowners. The problem with the imposition of heritage sites is that whilst the conservation is aimed to preserve the unique Fijian environments for future generations this long- term planning is often not a priority for those who use the natural environment as a source of income and livelihood. The tension between conservation principles and traditional land use is most evident at the Fijian Creseted Iguana Sanctuary. The presentation by the site managers identified that the introduction of goats has become a significant threat to the iguana population, however they are also a source of livelihood for the goat- owners. The solution was very tricky! Essentially financial compensation was provided with each goat owner given $150 for each goat that was eradicated. Whilst this was the solution preferred by the goat owners I find it hard to believe that this is the most sustainable solution. I think that more research should be undertaken in maybe providing initial financial compensation, but also skills workshop to ensure that the goat- owners have alternative avenues of income.

From my experiences this week I can see myself supporting Langi Kavaliku assertion (which is supported by Anthony Hooper) that the “conceptually flawed contrast between culture and development” (pg 11) should be cast aside. The fundamental problem is when ‘development’ is reduced to only economic growth, measured by indicators such as gross national product. Instead 'development' should be incorporated by integrating culture with the economic. Joeli Veitayaki in a later chapter of the book "Culture & Sustainable Development in the Pacific" uses Fiji’s fish management as a positive example where the government has endeavoured to take culture into account in its fisheries management, marrying it with research and grass- roots participation.

Cruise ship in Suva!

On the weekend a cruise ship docked in Suva for a day with the 2000 tourists on board heading off to Gloria Jeans and buying big at the handicraft markets. It made me very appreciative of the Fijian experience that we have been lucky to have through our jobs, our course and the people we have met.A brochure image for a cruise around the Pacific- a tourists' conception of Fiji!

One incident of the day that stands out was when a Fijian man approached a group of us shopping near MHCC and encouraged us to visit a particular Fijian shop. He told us that they were the only Fijian markets where the money goes directly to the Fijians, and not 'to the Indians.' This is quite a blatant example fo racism in Fiji, however I have also noticed many subtle references to this disharmony everywhere. The source of this tension stems from the historical social structure where "the indigenous Fijians provided the land, the Indians the labour and the Europeans the capital and the management (Teaiwa)." The workplace is overwhelmingly Indigenous Fijian— the park manager at the Sigatoka Sand Dunes is Indo- Fijian, however this appears to be very rare in government and head positions from talking to the other students at the Fijian Arts Council. However outside of the work environment, Indo- Fijians are very visible: driving taxis, working at the shops, at the restaurants. The article by Katerina Teaiwa “Popular Kinship” is particularly useful when looking at this issue. I found our tutorial on this reading very helpful as it was a difficult and dense article with many new ideas and concepts! The value of this paper is that it is a such a new and quite creative perspective on studying the Pacific with her central idea being that pacific cultures can be understood and brought together through the lens of popular culture. Katerina argues that by using popular culture as a tool you provide common experiences for a large mass of people who are then able to accept and interact with more diverse groups, thus providing a way of reconciliation and an ability to be involved in the national identity.