This week was so busy but so fun. On Tuesday I went to help with FENC. The kids have learned so much since the last time I was there thanks to our team. I learned more about FENC this week so I thought I'd share some statistics. Out of the group of students we teach, only 50% will graduate college. Of those 50% only 5% will go on to University. (in Fiji, High school is called college and college is called University) University tuition here costs $3,000 a semester. The average income of the kids' parents in Nanuku village is about $5,000 a year. That's about $100 a week for a family of 5 and maybe two grandparents. The people in this village are squatters so they do not get help from the government in anything because technically they are there illegally. When it rains, their houses get completely flooded because they basically live in a swamp. The children typically get Scabies and Ringworm at a very young age and are very unhealthy. FENC is probably their only hope in getting out of that village. The only way they can go to university is through academic scholarship. I didn't realize how important our job here was until I found out about the situation these kids are in. We are implementing a classroom management technique called IOL into our classes. IOL stands for inside-out learning. It teaches teachers to use certain management techniques to control their classes so the students can learn at a better pace. I am really excited to see how we can impact FENC and the kids we tutor so they can have a better opportunity at higher education.

Here's the "Buzz" on what happened yesterday

Yesterday was the best day yet! We went to Nausori to talk with our partner Saraswati. I don't remember if I explained Saraswati, but it is a college and a small business for helping farmers create their own jobs through beekeeping and Coconut Oil making. We had the opportunity to make our own honey! First we learned about the process through a series of videos and a booklet so that we could better understand what the members of Saraswati do for a living. After the bees have made the honey and covered it in wax to keep it from dripping everywhere, I got to scrape off the wax to reveal the honey underneath. The video is too large to load on here so here is a link to view: Click Here to view video. The bees are so cute when they are first born. We got to see one climb out of it's little honey comb. As soon as they are hatched, they go right back in and clean out the pocket so that the other bees can fill it with honey. The baby bees don't have developed stingers so we got to hold them. They were so fuzzy!

This is what the hives look like when they still have wax on them (they call this stage "capped frames")

After this process is complete, You have to use an extractor to get all the honey from the frame. The extractor is a little machine that you put the frames into and it spins really fast so all the honey sticks to the sides and then drips down. After that, you have to filter the honey to make sure you don't get any beeswax with it. To do this, you need a little mosquito net strainer.

After all the honey has filled the bucket, you jar it up and you have honey! They say that the darker the honey, the more valuable because that means it was harvested locally. I guess that means we got some pretty great honey!

 I learned so much and I have so much respect for bees now. They are crazy hard workers! They literally have a little colony and they choose who is going to be queen and when the queen is sick, they make a new bee the queen. Queen Bees are just fertile bees. Drones are the male bees and their only purpose is to mate with the queen and then they die. Worker bees are all females who are not fertile. When the bees make a queen, they eat some honey and then regurgitate it onto the larvae to give it more nutrients and create a queen bee. The stuff they throw up is called royal jelly and people buy it and turn it into pills and take it! Apparently there is a HUGE market for royal jelly. And I guess it tastes like yogurt too.. I don't want to know why original bee keepers thought it was a good idea to eat bee throw up but whatever. On our walk back home, we pass this: 

Fiji is so gorgeous and I am so excited to see what other projects we get to do with Saraswati. Next week we will be learning how to make coconut oil so stay tuned! 

This past week was amazing! I love it here. I am finally getting used to the heat and learning things about the Fijian people and the culture so I can better understand them and the way they do things. I think I am finally at the acceptance step of Culture Shock. Nala (our cook) made the most amazing food last night, I think I will have to start collecting recipes from her. The Fijian culture is so great. Here are some pictures of the town and the Island:

We crammed 6 people into the back of a Taxi on the way to church

We wait at the bus stand every morning

Before

We cleaned out this Tutor center so the kids who live in the squatter community can come and learn in a clean place

Here is what the market looks like every day and some of the Fijian ladies who work there

This photo is what I feel like every morning:

This week I had the opportunity to meet with another partner called Saraswati. They are a social entrepreneurship to stress the poverty and social disparity between the Indians and the Fijians and it has become a company dedicated to the help of both the Fijians and the Indians. They offered me the opportunity to work in Web Design! I am so excited! This will be such a great resume builder for my career and an opportunity to help modernize Fiji. I cannot wait! 

I am starting a project proposal to help teach simple Web Design techniques to the people who work at Saraswati so they can in turn teach their clients and promote better marketing strategies online. We also are going to try to do a project proposal to make coconut oil so Fijian entrepreneurs can learn how to make coconut oil and sell it to support their families.


Here is a picture of me using my waterproof camera case: I was so excited to use it because I thought it was so funny looking and Maddy caught it on camera :)

This next week we will be going to Saraswati and our other business partners so stay tuned for more updates

God's light shines brightest through the eyes of children

Kids are amazing. Today, we went to the squatter community village for our first day working with FENC. FENC is the foundation of education for needy children. They are the most beautiful children I've ever seen. When we first got into the small corrugated metal room, the kids weren't there yet. It started to rain and slowly they began trickling in, nervous and shy. Once they all got in, small groups started forming and games like London Bridge and Patty Cake began. Soon, the whole room erupted in laughter and play.


After the games stopped and the children were quieted, we began to tell them stories in small groups. It was so fun how excited they were to just sit with us. One kid, Mamalo, just wanted to sit on my lap and touch my hair. At one point, he just looked up at me, said "I love you" and then sat back on my lap.

I am so excited to actually get started tutoring and teaching on Thursday. Finally I am getting started on projects that I came here for. Wish me luck!

Here is a Fijian Sunset

Music is a way of life

This is what happened when we got off the plane in Nadi :) They LOVE music here. We love music here! Our neighbors serenade us almost every day. It's so amazing here. I just hope I can conquer the heat.

This is the fish market. It smells so bad whenever we walk past, but it is so fun to see all the markets.

This is Kim. There are many stray dogs and puppies in Fiji but this one is bonded with our house and loves us. She is skeptical about getting too close to us, but she loves to sit in the sun and hang out with us outside. 

This is what most of the city looks like. There are vegetable markets, and fruit markets, and flea markets, and any other market you can think of!

These are pig heads. The butcher sells them in the front of his shop, and I guess they get purchased because there were tons!

These are little chesnuts. They call them Ivi here. (ee-vee)

I guess Fiji will be a "goodenough" home for me to stay for 3 months.

Suva is a permanent Sauna

I finally got some internet on my computer! Yay!! Suva is SO HOT AND HUMID. Seriously. I can't believe how much I sweat here. I sweat on every inch of my body. My legs sweat! Why are my legs sweating? Why do I live somewhere where my legs sweat. I don't know. I went from Rexburg, Idaho to Suva, Fiji and my body is very mad at me. Although the heat is sometimes unbearable, IT IS BEAUTIFUL HERE. I can't believe how gorgeous it is. Even the money is pretty.

Fiji is so fun. There are cows that just hang out in front of people's yards and birds will just sit on their backs! On the bus ride from Nadi to Suva, there is more green than I have ever seen in my life. It is gorgeous! The people here are so nice and helpful. They love to talk to you about where you are from and what the states are like and they love to teach you about their lives. The taxis and buses honk at each other constantly to say hello. 

There was something smeared on the bus window and we were moving so fast (Fijian drivers are crazy!), but here is a glimpse of the green here. It's so gorgeous I can't look around fast enough to see it all.