We arrived in Tavua early evening of June 12. Upon arrival, we were received with a traditional welcoming ceremony which includes formal greetings, explanations of the purpose of the visit and ceremonial drinking of Kava with the village elders. Our partners from FIji LMMA introduced us and The Ball. The Fiji Locally Managed Marine Areas is a local NGO that works on marine conservation. By the end of the ceremony we were officially accepted by the village; we were welcome and official guests of Tavua.
We were accommodated in one of the villagers houses. Titi and Susi tended to us most amazingly and we felt very homely there. The houses are very simple but most comfortable and we would’ve loved to stay much longer and spend time with the family, including with little Billy and the lively puppy Don.
The workshop on June 13 had a focus on women, which is why most participants were women from Tavua and surrounding villages. The workshop was officially initiated by the village leaders and our partners from Fiji LMMA. FLMMA made our workshop in the villages possible with pre-visits and organization and co-delivered and helped with translation. We started our workshop with some warm up games and presentation of The Ball’s journey and then asked our participants about the effects of climate change they had witnessed. Mostly, they talked about how floods were affecting houses but also farming, as many crops had been damaged by recent floods. They shared how they try to take out crops before floods or try to learn which crops are more resistant towards climate change.
After lunch, we played Fairplay Football, which was most enjoyed by all our participants. One of our particpants, Vika, is the trainer of the Tavua Women’s Football team and Ofas has been playing football and rugby for a long time. Ergo they were able to shine with their skills. But also the women who hadn’t played much football before really enjoyed our fair and inclusive football game.
After our session on the SDGs and the Fairplay Football session including climate handicaps, the participants we more aware of the climate issues that are affecting them as well as of possible solutions they already have or might develop in the future. The Fairplay football made them work as a team and showed how well things go once you work together. Ravu from FLMMA also related the Fairplay Football rules to our interactions with development: Sometimes it’s good to stop The Ball and look around for better options, rather then just runnig off or kicking The Ball off the field. Sometimes there is a free player, or a sustainable solution, standing right next to you.
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