A day at Nakavadra school

We began our day by waking up in our village hostile around 7:30. Led by Lia Redfern, we walked to the high school to eat breakfast and get ready for the rest of the busy day. Energized by the delicious meal of watermelon, kula kula, naan bread, and bread with butter, we gathered in separate groups to visit different classrooms. I visited a 12th grade geography classroom, in which the students studied agriculture and the impact of sugar. One of the students shared her math notes and tests with me, and I was surprised to see the similarities amongst our studies. Just like us, the Fijian students are studying pre-calculus, and memorizing formulas for slope, functions, and logs. I really appreciated the students excitement to openly share their work and aspects of their culture. Each students welcomed us with open arms and seemed beyond thrilled to get to know us and our individual backgrounds/ lifestyles. We spoke with the students and shared and compared our sports, extracurricular activities, classes, and workloads. While describing the scenery of a city, the Fijian students were intrigued by the differences in landscape and astounded as we described skyscrapers and skylines.

After communicating with the students, we went to lunch to eat chicken, bean, or egg sandwiches. Then, it was our turn to contribute to their community after they had welcomed us. We all worked together in painting chairs, and digging holes to build brand new benches for the students to relax during freetime. During this time we were able to interact with the Fijians as they prepared the cement for the benches. I was surprised to see the students so willing to help in manual labor during their school day. After the day of working, we finished the day by playing a variety of sports (net ball, soccer, spike ball) with the local villagers. For me, the biggest culture shock was walking into the school classrooms. They were obviously very different from ours at Parker, in that the wooden desks were stuffed with papers and there were no computers in sight. Today was a great introduction into the life of a Fijian student, and life in the Raki Raki village.