A little history...
Briefing: Part 1
Our first talk was held in our very own bunk house, right after breakfast, with a projector screen, a few stray chairs and an engaging Fijian speaker, Manasa, the TP Community Development Advisor. Manasa had been a part of Think Pacific since its early days and met with the co-founders, Harry and Simon, to provide the Fijian perspective on introducing the charity to Fiji. His presentation to us in fact, differed very little from his original role, in which he conveyed how best to implement the TP principles without causing distress within the community.
In the early nineteenth century, for example, when European missionaries first entered into Fiji, cannibalism was still common practice. In ‘civilising’ the communities and helping to abolish cannibalism, the missionaries were often seen to abuse their power and disrespect the culture. Unfortunately, it is a common, often accidental fault for more advantageous cultures to impose help on other countries according to their own ideas of civility, and not take into account what that country actually needs. The founders and masterminds of Think Pacific have therefore, spent years discerning the genuine concerns of Fiji in order to provide the most appropriate resources and services. Our primary mission, for example, as Think Pacific volunteers, is to introduce innovative methods of education to the schools and bring ‘slow learners’ up to speed. Lots of positive change is most effectively implemented from an early age so we were also encouraged to promote the five aspects of health for mental, physical, social, spiritual and financial stability. Manasa was a brilliant speaker and by the end of his talk we were all enthused, impassioned and rearing to go.
After lunch, we were visited by Harry, the co-founder himself, to provide the food, medication and cultural advice that would be very useful in the weeks to come. ‘You will get the shits,’ he warned, sounding very much like Coach Carr on sexual education. ‘I’m sorry, but there’s no escaping it. Your body will take a few days to adjust to the food and water, so you will get the shits. Or constipation – they’re both pretty much as likely as the other.’
Great, I thought. At least it got a giggle out of us.
‘Smash your purification tablets, have lots of vitamin C and water; you should be fine within a few days. Oh and the food,’ he continued, ‘make sure you try everything.’ He looked each of us in the eye like he was wagging an invisible finger. ‘There will probably be food you don’t like, and I’m sorry, you’re just going to have to swallow it down. Perhaps, just take a little bit of what you don’t like and a lot more of what you do like; they’ll get the message. But eat it all, if you can.’ I felt like bowing my head in shame already - although I'm not a fussy eater. ‘For many of you, your family will have grown the vegetables or slaughtered the animals themselves. They will have planted it, farmed it, dug it, washed it, cooked it and prepared it all with their own hands, and for you to just sit back and say that you don’t like it, well…. Just eat what you can and I promise, 100%, there will be some food you’ll absolutely love.’
Nothing like a Fijian etiquette lecture to put you at ease. But still, brutal as it may have sounded, it was an exciting talk that had our imaginations on a whirlwind. Besides, his counsel about food and culture would become prized pieces of information later on.