Youth projects
Our teaching and youth projects form a huge element of every expedition. Our volunteers support local primary schools, establish the first kindergarten schools in Fiji and lead a hugely fulfilling and creative extra curricular programme of drama, art, music and games, which are lighting up children's lives in the outer islands.
You will teach English and provide key assistance to the local teachers within primary schools, help to create a long standing nursary education project each morning and establish after school youth groups within the community to offer children the chance to express themseleves through art, drama, dance, music and games. This is the opportunity for you to inspire Fijian children and offer your time to organise meaningful and fun activities. You will work in the village homes, the community halls, the jungle, the beach and the ocean!
Our aim is for our youth projects to be varied and inclusive, offering support for all children within the community and we rely on your imagination and creativity. If you have a specific skill, from teaching english to leading dance, an interest in art or a natural flair for directing a drama production, then let us know and we’ll ensure that your skills are matched to the local objectives and the equipment and resources you need, from paint brushes to guitars, will be waiting for you in the village so you can get started!
Fijian children are gentle, playful and bursting with energy. They also have absolutely nothing. The attention you provide through teaching and organising simple activities could really make a difference. Introducing a basic selection of books or musical instruments can light up young people’s lives, and helping to mentor in the schools and offering English lessons in the village provides an opportunity for children and teenagers to improve their skills.
School and kindergarten projects
Our school and kindergarten projects are achieving incredibly rewarding and long term educational development for Fijian children aged 3 - 13. Under the direction of local teachers, you will work with primary aged children who are struggling in certain subjects and offer specific and dedicated one-to-one support to assist. At the request of local schools, you will lead individual lessons in the poor and rural school classrooms and introduce additional lessons such as current affairs, debating societies, poetry competitions and health and environmental awareness projects.
The school curriculum in Fiji is taught in English, and children must have an excellent grasp of English reading and writing to enable them to progress through all of their subjects. Organising a specific programme of one-to-one English lessons with village chidren can therefore make such an immense difference to the quality of a child's long term education.
Working in the local kindergarten takes place each morning and looking after pre-school children is an especially demanding but fulfilling task! Think Pacific has established four kindergarten schools in Fiji and our volunteers are pioneering these growing and exciting initiatives. Working alongside Fijian women, who run the kindergartens long term, the objective is to engage the Fijian under five's and provide their vital first English and Maths lessons as well as endless games, songs, nursary rhymes, outdoor activities!
Drama, art and music
Every team develops drama, art and music lessons within the primary schools and during our village youth clubs, which take place after school. We look to our volunteers to bring new ideas and to add creatively and inspiringly to these projects. This is really your time to shine if this is your area of expertise!
During the past year alone, our volunteers have organised drama productions for Fijian children such as Jospeh the Musical and the Lion King, developed Fiji's Got Talent competitions, the Fiji X-Factor, ballet classes, ballroom and zumba dance lessons and introduced recorder, guitar, piano and sax lessons, art and crafts lessons and big events, festivals and island shows. Our volunteers play a key role in the organisation of each and every activity and you can start your art, drama, music and dance rehersals with the village kids from the day you arrive in the village!
Long Term Impact
In the rural villages, children have a real lack of any form of books, toys, games, educational resources or sports equipment. Think Pacific purchase these neccessary resources for local schools. For all youth projects, our aim is that the skills and enthusiasm that you offer, combined with the initiative, enthusiasm and commitment of the local teachers and adults in the community, allows the youth clubs to be sustainable and continued by the village members themselves long after the project is complete.
Your expedition fee also allows Think Pacific to improve the quality of school facilities and you may be involved in projects such as the renovation of school buildings, the creation of kindergartens and the improvement of sanitation and cooking facilities for the schools. This improvement in the quality of the school infrastructure has clear benefits in increasing the quality of education for the Fijian children.
Lucy Price, ShrewsburyIt was the best experience of my life. I feel like I've come away with some of the closest friends you can ever make.
