Involvement Volunteers International

My trip to Fiji was an incredibly eye-opening and meaningful experience. I spent a month volunteering at a remote island primary school as well as a kindergarten on the mainland, which gave me insight into two very different educational settings. One of the highlights was building relationships with the children and becoming part of their daily routines. The students were warm, enthusiastic, and eager to learn, which made the experience very rewarding despite some of the challenges I observed. At the remote island primary school, I found the level of English comprehension quite surprising. While many students were able to speak English, they often struggled to understand sentence structure and meaning, particularly when it came to stories or more complex instructions. I also noticed differences in teaching practices, where students were often given work to complete independently with limited supervision or guidance, which was very different from what I am used to. Overall, the experience challenged my expectations and broadened my understanding of global education systems. It reinforced my interest in working with children and highlighted the importance of quality teaching, supervision, and inclusive practices in supporting all learners.

The experience was amazing, and the team were very attentive and involved, and the site was pleasant. This trip will stay in my mind as a great memory of mine. Thankyou so much, I appreciated the experience.

Volunteering was very enjoyable, interesting and varied. It gave us a good insight into the wonderful work the soup kitchen does. The Head Chef was truly inspirational. It also gave us the opportunity to meet and work with other volunteers from many different countries. The local team were fantastic and very supportive, kind , considerate and very friendly. We liked that at the soup kitchen we all shared the same food, this gave us the opportunity to try many different Korean dishes. The buffet meal we had on our orientation say was good fun. The Temple was clean, the beds were comfortable and we enjoyed the never-ending supply of tea. The staff were friendly and again it was good to meet people from all over the world. The location was good too. At the Temple we also enjoyed a handpan lesson.