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It was reported to a meeting of club presidents of District 9750 in N.S.W. that some schools in Fiji were so poor that they couldn't afford paper for the pupils' lessons. The schools were getting the empty beer cartons from nearby hotels and using these as the available writing resource. |
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Another Rotarian reported to his 9750 District Assembly that Fiji might well be a favourite holiday playground for Aussies and Kiwis but he knew, that in between those resorts and hotels, many of the native Fijian families were living in slum conditions. They had poor houses, in some cases having no houses and were doubling up with other families.
The majority of village Fijians had no jobs and consequently not enough money to put their children on the local school bus.
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Because of this many village children weren't going to school at all. He knew of one large village on the Coral Coast of Fiji that had been excreting in pits forever and has been without water for the past four months. The people did their personal laundry and body washing in a nearby polluted river. It had one foreign-owned hotel on one side and another on the other side. The Rotarian told the story of how this same large 400-person rural Fijian village 100 years ago was one of four main leadership villages in Fiji. |
These villagers could see that tourism was the industry of the future for the Pacific and yet no rural Fijian community was being allowed, encouraged or shown how, to farm the rich eco-tourism, enviro-tourism and cultural-tourism crop.
The fruits of this crop that would allow them to reap the linked benefits of full employment for all their village people, leading to better housing, regular and adequate income for educating their children, a clean and ongoing sufficient water supply, proper sanitation and a healthy diet.
This village has been begging the Fijian Government for 14 years to let them have a go to own and operate an authentic cultural hotel. It would be a place where Fijian families could welcome and look after Aussie families in the same and beautiful way they welcomed and looked after fellow Fijians.
Where 'zoo tourism' (where you stay in a western hotel and get in the bus to drive past and look at the Fijians living in villages) and 'airport art' or 'plastic art' would not exist (where overseas factories manufacture false craft goods to look like local crafts to sell to visitors to Fiji and the local, authentic crafts persons, being uneducated, and non-commercial, do not get a look in).
For these villagers current Fiji tourism infrastructure is 'unaffordable native tourism', that is where no local Fijian could ever afford to stay in the western style and expensive hotels.
The cost of breakfast for four visiting tourists, at any local hotel, almost equals the total weekly wage of a Fijian, that is if he is lucky enough to land a permanent (menial) job in these hotels and resorts that are built and operated on their paradise lands. District 9750 was duly astonished and decided to send a Fourth Avenue in Motion (FAIM) team to investigate.
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Six clubs from District 9750 sent the best of their best and, once the word was out, District 9520 also sent a team. It is amazing that a line-up of Rotary talent would come out of the woodwork on such short notice, pay their own fares, board a Jumbo jet in Sydney and head for an unknown and un-sewered Fiji village to get the real story. It says such a lot for Rotary and Rotarians. The team was led by that warhorse District 9750 Past Governor Peter Foley of the Rotary Club of Bondi Junction, N.S.W. |
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For local quality experience there was the Reverend Peter Davis with 28 years in the field, finishing as head of the Methodist Church in Fiji.
From Newtown, N.S.W., Peter's advice to all Rotarians on the trip, or contemplating one in the future, rested on three main points.
"First," he said, "you have to have great patience. Second, you have to have great patience. Third, you have to have great patience."
Other team members were President Artin Ekmedjian, Newtown, Marc Aussie-Stone of Newtown, Philip Gatto, of Five Dock, Bill Montgomery of Sutherland Civic, Luke Mitchell of Randwick, Past President Elaine Spinochia and Arthur Spinochia of Como-Jannali and Dianne Byrne and Graham Downie of the Rotary Club of Mildura-Deakin, Vic., in District 9520.
Dianne and Graham made up a film team which recorded a video film, The Other Side of the Fiji Story. They operate Apricot Film Productions from the Murray River and do a lot of Aboriginal filming, on the request of the Aboriginals, as well. What did the team find after staying one week in the village?
It's all true. We holiday on either side of Fijian villages while the Fijians suffer slum housing, poor diet, no water, no jobs and no future with children leaving their villages continuously for the bigger cities and trouble.
