First Week:
- Saturday: Welcome and Cultural Orientation in Nadi. Followed by arrival Health & Safety briefing before
beginning your journey to Dawasamu. On arrival you will be given a base tour before settling into your
new home. In the evening you will experience a traditional Sevusevu (welcome ceremony) and meet the
members of the village who you will be working closely with and your family who will help you settle in
to the Fijian lifestyle.
- Sunday: On Sunday you will go to Church as part of your introduction to the village way of life. It is a
fantastic opportunity to experience another culture and integrate yourself into the village. After church,
you will have time to eat lunch and spend the afternoon getting to know your Fijian family.
- Arrival Monday: This morning will begin with a short, introductory meeting to outline and explain your
first project that you will begin working on today, as well as detailing upcoming projects that you will be
a part of during your time in Dawasamu. Whilst volunteering on the Expedition program you will spend
time working on a variety of projects in different villages and schools, staff having assessed the current
needs of the community. The project leader will go over the plan and discuss the goals for the upcoming
week. Further training on specific tasks will be given when required but always before volunteers are
asked to carry out a task. Project work will usually begin, slightly later, at 9am on this first day.
- Rest of the Week: Your working day will begin at 8am and the rest of the week will be shaped by the
project work undertaken so far. Your tasks may include planning of lessons, facilitating workshops, the
creation of new workshops and other tasks in support of the program initiatives such as assisting with
implementation of the waste management programme. GVI aim to utilise any skills that volunteers
have, if you think you could bring something new to our community project please let us know!
Typically, you will be visiting villages anywhere from a 5 minute to 20 minute drive away from our base
and carrying out our initiatives within the community there. Each week there will be different goals
determined by the specific needs of the community at that time In the evenings, you can socialize with the rest of the GVI team and the community, as well as assisting
with cooking and household duties.
- Weekends: Free time! You can visit the capital city of Suva, visit Island resorts, snorkel, hike, go
dolphin watching or just relax on the beach.
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