As often is the case on this journey, we have been in search of partners and also funding to make the journey possible and the workshops be able to take place. Running workshops in Fijian Villages requires partners with a great network and relationship with local communities based on trust. Just weeks out from The Ball arriving in Fiji, we still hadn’t secured funding but we had a great partner lined up through the Global Eco Village Network: Fiji Locally Managed Marine Area (FLMMA).
FLMMA supports vibrant, resilient, and empowered communities who inherit and maintain healthy, well-managed, and sustainable marine resources and ecosystems. Their Fiji network extends all across Fiji and indeed they are part of the LMMA which also supports networks in Indonesia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Palau, Pohnpei and the Solomon Islands, and engages with more than 15 other countries in the Indo Pacific. FLMMA had found two villages where we could run workshops.
At the last minute, funding arrived through the German Embassy in New Zealand (for which we are very grateful – particularly to Debora Yaakoba whose perseverance to supporting our cause went well beyond just doing her job) and our project could go ahead. FLMMA kicked into gear. Atu and Ravu went off on pre-visits to the two villages in question (Tavua and Nasama) and set-up the framework for the workshops with the village leaders. For a workshop to be allowed to happen in a Fijian village you need the permission of the community elders, and the blessing of the chief. It involves a kava ceremony.
Kava is a ceremonial drink made from the root or stump of the kava shrub. The Fijians call the drink “grog”. It is pounded into a powder and mixed in cold water to produce a drink for ceremonies and cultural practices. These rituals are said to strengthen ties among groups, reaffirm status and help people communicate with spirits.
In this case kava was helping to connect the Spirit of Football, LMMA and the local villages of Tavua and Nasama together. And so it was that the villages were ready to host The Ball and organise 20 participants from for the SOF workshops in their respective community centres.
