The Pacific Welcome

This Friday, Kym and I will be heading to rural RakiRaki, northern Fiji, as our team does several times a year, to reconnect with the lovely girls we support, meet the new ones and see how things are going. We love visiting the schools where we work and snapping the sweet faces of the girls who have no idea just how gorgeous they are.

The food in this pic is some of my favourite anywhere in the world. Our Coordinator Urmila whips it up each night for dinner over her open fire and we happily tuck in!

This pic is a standard welcome everywhere we visit, sugary tea on the mat served with Indian fried bites here but otherwise biscuits or the incredible fruit in abundance in the Pacific.

No matter how poor the family, there is always a welcome. I remember visiting one home where there was nothing, but mum still had her kids go down to the river to fill our glasses then serve them on a makeshift tray. Hospitality is key and the people are generous and warm.

This trip we will train more volunteers to work alongside Urmila and report on a recent Rotary sponsored workshop that was held to raise awareness for our girls about where to go for help if they experience sexual violence which is all too common. We will gather more stories so we can tell you more about the lives of the girls you help us support and we will continue to expand our network in Fiji.

We can’t wait! Not least because winter is upon us here in Sydney and we’ll be able to thaw out for a few days…but mostly because our lives are richer for having met these wonderful communities of people!

We’ll keep you posted!

Warmly,

Jane for team ‘a Girl & her world’

www.agirlandherworld.org