Community Engagement Phase

Day 2: Thursday, June 16

Today, we spent 3 hours on a bus from Nadi to Raki Raki, with a stop in Lautoka.  After the three hour bus ride, we boarded the back of trucks with large covers over the beds, and we headed off to the village of Raki Raki. Before entering the village, we all had to put on our sarongs/sulus in order to show respect towards the elders.

We arrived in the village outside Raki Raki, and we settled in to our home for the next four nights. The Fijians in this community welcomed us with open arms!  The residents of this island nation are all very friendly.  Every time we enter our home, we must remove our shoes as a sign of respect. Sunglasses and hats are not permitted in the village. Our guide, Henry, explained to us how the villages thrives and the six different "classes" of tribes in the villages. Every village has a carpenter tribe, fisherman tribe, priestly tribe, chiefly tribe, warrior tribe, and the recently diffused slavery tribe. Since the village is male dominated, a Fijian identifies with their father's birth-given tribe. During important ceremonies such as weddings, funerals, or big holidays, everyone helps out with their appointed positions based on their tribe.

We settled in, then we walked up the King's Highway to the school where we took part in the first of two kava ceremonies. Kava is a non-alcoholic drink that is made from the kava root. It is a signature item in Fijian culture. The completion of the kava ceremony gives us permission to stay in the village and use their facilities. We bought the kava in Nadi and presented it to the spokesperson for the chief; the village presented us with liquid kava in return. The ceremony consists of mixing kava root with water and then ceremonially offering a coconut to all the guests. Kava has an anesthetic effect on the tongue and throat which is a weird sensation

There were two ceremonies because technically the school is one community and the other is the community of the village. The community ceremony was small, consisting of us and a handful of representatives outside our homestay. The other ceremony, despite being more casual, was more impressive, and it included Fijian dancing!  After introducing ourselves to the high school, we were given lays.  The ceremonies officially welcome us to the community. I was a little but nervous about drinking Kava for the first time as I didn't want to spit it out on accident, or worse. It all went well.

After the ceremonies, we had dinner separately at the school followed by dancing. The food was prepared by young women at the high school. It consisted of rice, stir fry and chicken. Fijians love music and dancing, and we got a chance to join in the fun after dinner. It seemed that most of the moves were impromptu involving the hips and the hands. Almost all of us danced to the music, which was a mix of Fijian and Spanish music. I did not know what to expect in terms of music, but I was not disappointed.

Tomorrow, we begin our work at the high school. I look forward to working on the high school buildings that were badly damaged in a recent typhoon. Our interactions with the locals have all been positive and group morale is high. I look forward to the rest of the trip going as smoothly.