Hello (Bula!) My name is Tia and this summer I have been given the amazing opportunity to partake in a month long volunteering project in Fiji!

I will be volunteering for a Youth Empowerment program through Think Pacific in which I will be living with a Fijian family in a rural village, and working with 18-35 year olds in the community to open up important discussions and create positive change.

Volunteering is something I have always done through various stages of my life. From being a member of school council in Primary, to completing NCS in the summer of 2022, I have always felt the need to do what I can to make a positive impact and help others. Along with volunteering I am also very passionate about travelling and so this experience is the perfect once in a lifetime opportunity for me and I am so grateful to have been accepted onto the program.

I will be living completely adhering to Fijian culture whilst partaking in culture courses to actively learn about life for Fijian youth. This experience will be undoubtedly challenging but incredibly rewarding and will allow me to grow as an individual.

Being an estranged student, I never thought I would get an opportunity such as this one and I am extremely excited to be pushed out of my comfort zone and spend my summer making human connections, helping the community, and being enriched in another way of life.

To help raise funds for this project I will be running 50 miles over the course of April as a completely inexperienced runner who has claimed many times that she “hates running”. Running is something I find very difficult and so i will be challenging myself every day to reach this goal.

Any support would be greatly appreciated, even simply sharing this fundraiser would help immensely!