Talofa lava or more aptly from the country that I am in right now Bula Vinaka! I am on my way back to Aotearoa but thought I would hit you with a brief update from my time here in Suva City, Fiji. I came here to participate in the Miss South Pacific Pageant 2009. Miss Fiji was crowned the Queen and a fantastic Ambassador she will be for our South Pacific Nations. Congratulations also to all the beautiful Pacific Sisters who participated in the pageant.
I need to make special mention of two day trips that were organised for us - The first trip was to Bau Island, where we were hosted by the local High Chief, his family and the heads of each of the households on the island. We were given a tour of the island including Fiji's oldest church. We also had time to give a quick beatbox lesson to the children of Bau District School.
The second trip was to Naboro Prison and organised by Mrs Ateca Williams, an advocate of the Yellow Ribbon Rehabilitation Programme originally from Asia and now in Fiji. Amongst many
other productive activities and initiatives the Yellow Ribbon Programme carries out, Mrs Williams and others volunteer their time to teach inmates the Kip McGrath way of learning. Both the inmates and the prison officers were very inspirational you should read here to get the full story on the work that they do. Something I think other prisons could take a page from in order to make a better society. Truez Up!
