mad will.

Monday, May 13th – Saturday, May 18th

Monday, May 13th: the day we arrived at a special place called The Mission.

The Mission is located in Natuvu, Fiji, a place about an hour and half drive up the northeast coastline of Vanua Levu from Savusavu, a main port and cruise stop town in Fiji.

We were welcomed there by a man named Denis, his wife Ornella, and their two beautiful children, Oliver (3), and Donna (2) (sadly, I did not get any pictures of their beautiful family). They are an Argentine family who emmigrated from Argentina to Fiji for the express purpose of living, working and serving as managing directors of The Mission, just as Denis’ parents had done before him. They are an extremely sweet and humble family, and I really grew to love and admire them during the short time I had there.

The Mission is originally a 7th Day Adventist-established medical clinic on the acreage of an old coconut plantation in Natuvu, Fiji, right on the coastline of Buca Bay. It was originally established mainly to perform dental and other general medical care for local Fijian people, especially those in surrounding rural areas who do not have great access to such care or education. However, now The Mission has expanded its outreach to other medical specialties, including eye exams, ophthalmic surgeries, lymphatic surgeries, dental surgeries, and many others.

While there at the mission, our BYU Nursing group was able to head up health screening and health education outreach in several local villages, including Nawi, Kioa, and Kanakana. In each of the villages we visited, we conducted blood pressure and blood glucose screenings with the villagers in their community halls. We also provided health education to villagers prior to getting screened on topics from diabetes and diabetes prevention to hypertension, nutrition, and general healthy lifestyle tips and practices. (Diabetes is actually a highly prevalent problem in Fiji, with nearly half of the population being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. So it was especially relevant for us to focus on this in our health screening and health education for Fijians.) We set up a rotation so that we all had individual opportunities to take blood pressures, check blood glucose, greet and direct incoming villagers, record results, and most importantly, teach and educate the people on what the purpose of this screening was, the significance of their results, and how to feel empowered and be able to make healthy lifestyle choices within the context of their unique culture. In several of the villages we visited, we also were able to participate in sort of a mobile screening clinic where we went to various village homes to screen certain people who were not physically well enough to leave their homes, but needed screening and referrals. This was special because it was a much more intimate setting, and we got to have more personal interactions with the individuals we screened there. I really loved that part.

The other thing we were able to do at each of the villages we visited while staying at The Mission was teach dental health, respiratory health, and cardiovascular health lessons to children at each of the local village primary schools. Primary school in Fiji is the equivalent to elementary school in the states, usually from ranging K to 5th or 6th grade, with some of the smaller village schools also including typical middle school grades such as 6th through 8th grade.

This was a really great experience. The lessons we taught were very interactive with lots of games and activities for the kids. We played freeze tag, played with stethoscopes and pulse oximeters, did incentive spirometer competitions, and even practiced brushing teeth with water-spraying puppets to music – it was a great time, and the kids had a lot of fun. 🙂

Teaching the dental health in these areas was also really important. A lot of kids we saw already had teeth problems, some of them pretty severe with baby teeth already rotting out. We also provided toothbrushes to every child. It was really awesome that we could teach this subject and hopefully give these kids something they will remember and go home to teach their parents and siblings in order to be healthier and have a better overall quality of life.

The other best part of being at The Mission was getting to know the amazing staff while doing fun things. Besides Denis and his family, The Mission staff is mainly made up of Fijians. When we weren’t visiting villages and performing health screenings, we were back at The Mission doing lots of fun activities where we got to interact with the staff and their families, including their siblings and even their children who would always come there after they were done with school for the day. We got to go on an amazing hike with Siwa and David that involved hacking our way through the jungle with machetes, free climbing up rock faces, harvesting fresh coconuts from the palm tree-tops, learning how to decipher pineapple, taro root, and cassava plants from one another based upon their leaves, and even being guided to caves at the top of a mountain which were supposed ancient burial grounds with real, full sized skeletons still in them! It was so crazy and seriously one of the coolest things I have ever seen! We also played lots of soccer and volleyball games, and went night fishing for barracuda out over the ocean, among other fun things.

Although the fun & adventure we had during these outings was a highlight in and of itself, even more lasting and meaningful were the conversations we were able to have and the relationships we were able to foster between ourselves and the staff while doing this. I learned so much from the interactions I had with them and their families, and my observation of the way they live their lives.

I learned a lot about what you can do to live a happier life.

I learned that it’s better to laugh at yourself rather than take things too seriously – it’s just always better that way…and leads to lots more smiles for you and everyone else! 🙂

I learned that healthy teasing is good for the mind and the soul; it makes you tougher in a good way. (Fijians are really good at this….they don’t let many a chance go by without giving you a healthy tease, and honestly, it makes things way more fun! :))

I learned the true meaning of hospitality and generosity.

I learned about joy in worship, and dedication in worship of God. They taught me that time spent with and for God is sacred and important, and that it should be treated as such.

I learned about sincerity, and exuding a genuine nature with those around you and with the world.

I learned that laughter is the zest of life – you should always be laughing as much as possible in life! Then your life is more joyful! Laugh at others, at yourself, at circumstances – no matter what it is, laughing brings joy and happiness to yourself and to those around you! It truly does.

I learned that it doesn’t have to be hard or a big deal to reach out to others and be a friend. They taught me that with their very real and freely-given friendliness. Fijians are a friend to everyone.

Probably one of the people I came to admire most while there was a man named Siwa. He is an active 7th-Day Adventist originally converted from Catholicism. He is also activities director for the entire Mission, and assists in the clinic often as a medical assistant. As such, we got to spend a lot of time with him on our various outings, both academic and not. He has a wife, children, and even grandchildren, a beautiful legacy that he has left behind. I grew to admire him so much for many reasons, but some of the biggest were his dedication to doing the right things, how he has let God work through him to change him into a better man in his life, his love for his children and grandchildren, and his balance of making the serious things a part of his being and life, along with having a very fun, teasing, playful, and joyful side of who he was. He had a lot of love and acceptance for others, and that was evident in the way he interacted with all guests at The Mission, both those that were similar to him, and those who were not. I really wish I had a picture of him to share here – if I can get my hands on one, I promise I will update this blog post, because Siwa undoubtedly deserves some photo representation on here!

Lastly, one of the most meaningful things we got to experience while staying at The Mission was the unique opportunity to participate in various 7th-Day Adventist worship services throughout the week.

Each morning after breakfast, we were able to enjoy a morning devotional. The program typically consisted of singing several hymns in Fijian together (i.e. the Fijian staff, Denis and his family, the Pepperdine students and professors, and us BYU students and our professors), and then a short devotional given by one chosen individual. Throughout our week there, we had a chance to hear from Siwa, two of the Pepperdine students, and even one of our own students who was asked to give a devotional to the group. Those were sweet and special times. I loved watching the Fijian staff sing their hymns at the beginning. You could feel the love they had for their God as you watched them sing. The sincerity of their worship was very tangible. The whole devotional process was also just a really great way to start out the day, with thoughts of Jesus Christ and living life with true charity running through your mind right before you went out to go serve the people of Fiji.

On our last full day there, we were also able to enjoy a traditional 7th-Day Adventist Vespers devotional service on Friday night, the night before their Sabbath day. It was given by Siwa, and the general topic was God’s love. It was very sweet, and I felt a sweet, tender spirit being there.

Like I said before, it’s hard to really sum up all my experiences at The Mission in one blog post, but honestly it’s okay, because I don’t really need to try.

What I felt and experienced here and the things I learned and took away from the experience are things that I will keep close to my heart, in my thoughts, and in my being forever, and that’s what really matters.

I’m so thankful for Fiji, for the Fijian people, for Denis, for Siwa, for The Mission and everyone who is a part of what they do there. It is a special place that I hope to visit again someday.

Moce for now. ☼

-Madison

*(Disclaimer: posting this super late, I know! Finally got some decent wifi for the first time in like 2 weeks, so enjoy!)*

Wow, what. a. day. Seriously one of the best days ever. So much happiness, so much celebration, and so much joy!

Today was International Nursing Day, a worldwide day of honoring all that nurses do and are. And, when you get to spend it with Fijians, you find out what it truly means to celebrate. 🙂

To get the day off to a rolling, celebratory start, we actually got to be part of a PARADE! Yes guys, a real, literal parade. Like we had a police escort and everything, we were legit. It was so much fun. To begin the day, the 14 members of our BYU group showed up at the Sangum School of Nursing in all of our sulu and sulu chamba glory (pictured below).

We greeted all our newfound student friends, the nursing professors of the school, nurses from the Labasa Regional Hospital, and even several public health nurses that had traveled there early in the morning from nursing stations all over Fiji so they could join in the celebration! From there, the whole group began the march! We trooped through the streets of downtown Labasa while singing traditional Fijian songs, waving flags, and being led in cheers by the mega-phone-carrying director of nursing for the Labasa school. She made us do “hip hip hooray’s” over and over and over again, and it was adorable.

From downtown Labasa, we continued on down the street, marching past the Labasa Regional Hospital, and all the way down the road to a outdoor open-air veranda covered by a beautiful traditional Fijian bure and decorated to the max for the occasion – streamers, backdrops, tons of chairs, dance music speakers, a podium and mic, big huge banners – the whole nine yards.

Once the excitement of the parade died down and all the group had taken their seats under the veranda, the celebratory program began.

There were a series of speakers, including a Methodist preacher, various health professionals (mental health nurse practitioner, dietician, etc.) and several nursing educators. The chief guest of the day was actually supposed to be the Fiji National Minister of Health, but sadly he wasn’t able to make it from the big island of Viti Levu due to an emergency government meeting that got scheduled for that same morning. The Fijians were sad, but as one of the public health nurse announcers put it passionately, “We are nurses; we are our own chief guest!” Haha:) gotta love the spirit of a nurse:) There were also a bunch of different presentations given by different groups of nursing students from the Sangum School as part of the program.

There was one presentation in particular given by some of the second year students that truly touched my heart and spirit. It was about how Christ is found at the center of it all. (Some background: religion is a HUGE part of the culture in Fiji. Most everyone is religious in some form, with the predominant religion being Christian (especially Methodist). Because of this, it is very commonplace to incorporate religious teachings in secular settings, like school and even in the workplace, which is very different from how we know life in the US.) The students performed what they called a “drama”, where they demonstrated through silent acting how Christ can turn us from imperfect people into something more complete; how he makes us whole, how he makes us better. They had one very tall student dressed as Christ in red and white robes, similar to how he is commonly depicted in Christian paintings of the Second Coming. They also had various actors playing out some form of a situation in which a nurse was either impatient, rude, mean, or displayed some other negative characteristic to a patient, but without using any spoken words. The actors wore different name tags in order to signify to the audience which person represented the impatient nurse, or patient nurse, etc. Then, after they acted that part out, each “nurse”, one by one, came to the Savior, knelt before him, and bowed down in humility at his feet. In response to this, the boy representing the Savior took off each of their name tags that said “impatient nurse” or “rude nurse” and replaced it with a new name tag that said “patient nurse”, “kind nurse”, or some similar quality.

This was so touching to me. It really spoke to my heart and made me reflect on how I want my personal relationship with Jesus Christ to be. The students’ presentation truly was such a beautiful depiction of what the Savior can do for each of us as we come before him in humility and repentance: he can take our weaknesses or shortcomings, our pains and imperfections, and he can transform us completely, making us more than we are alone, and helping us become the type of person we want to be – a person more like him.

So, that was a great part of the day. But, Fijians aren’t just good at making you feel spiritual – they also know how to party!!!!

Probably my other hands-down favorite part of the day was joining in on the mini dance parties that broke out on the stage between almost every speaker during the program! They specifically hired a DJ for the occasion who put on dance music in between speakers & presentations, and then anyone and everyone who wanted (or even those who didn’t want :)) to get up and dance could! (some were also coerced, but it was all in good fun:) one of the directors for the school, Ima, was the main perpetrator; you had to watch out when making eye contact with her, otherwise you were getting pulled up to dance whether you wanted to or not 🙂 Ima, Julie, and Emily dancing pictured below).

Seriously though: it was probably the funnest part of the day! Us Americans got up and danced, the Fijian students got up and danced, the teachers got up and danced, the director of the entire school of nursing got up and danced….we even played limbo with a broom for a hot second; it was friggin amazing.

It was in those moments that I realized how much I love the Fijian people’s love for dance, and how they make it such an integral part of their culture. Dancing is something that brings people together, makes memories, and just makes people happy! That was something I witnessed this day. The Fijians’ love for dance and those memories of dancing with them is something I am definitely going to take back home with me.

Another special opportunity we had during the celebration was to perform a song for the Fijians. No less than one day before flying out to Fiji, we got an unexpected word from the Fijian nursing school that they wanted us to provide some “entertainment” at the International Day of Nursing Celebration. Didn’t really even know what that meant, and it was a total surprise, but they wanted entertainment, so we were going to give them some entertainment! 🙂 So, we decided to sing a special version of the hymn “Lord, I Would Follow Thee” for them, which has 2 extra verses written for our College of Nursing at BYU specifically.

The best part though was after we performed it for them. Once we finished singing, a bunch of the students we knew from school came up out of the audience to us with hidden gifts they had for each one of us! They placed beautiful shell necklaces around our necks, and each placed a small gift box in our hands. And of course, there were hugs. 🙂 Their gratitude and hospitality was overwhelming. It brought tears to my eyes and made me want to be more like them.

After a break in the program, we got to enjoy a traditional Fijian lovo for lunch. After that, we were able to go back to the nursing school with most of the 3rd year nursing students who we had been spending time with the last few days to hang out with them for their 2-hour “sports time” that they have every Friday at the end of the day. We played volleyball, and it was a lot of fun. It made me wish we had time set aside like that free from classes to bond with one another as college students in America.

After that, it was time to say our goodbyes. This was actually a lot harder than I thought it would be. It’s amazing how fast sweet friends can be made in a place like Fiji. The final most touching part of the day was experiencing the love and generosity of the students as we said our goodbyes. Even though we had only known them for 4 days, the friends we made had bought special and personal gifts for us. They were so happy and excited to give their gifts; they had other friends ready with their iPhone cameras just to document the experience of giving us our gifts, and then to take pictures of us together after. It was very sweet and touching.

I think the thing about this whole experience that touched me the most though was how these kids who had so little were willing to give so much, and to do it so happily and freely. Their quickness to love and to give was such an example to me of the right way to live and treat other people. I am so thankful I had the opportunity to meet them and be blessed by their love and kindness. I miss them all already!

After goodbyes, it was on to Savusavu for the next leg of our journey. But Labasa & its people will always hold a special place in my heart. They left me with a feeling I won’t soon forget.

Moce (moh-day) for now!

-Madison

Bula!

We have been in Fiji for a whole week now, but it has been an absolute whirlwind!

Three days ago, we arrived in Labasa (pronounced lahM-bah-sah). We came from Nadi (pronounced naN-dee), which is located on the big island of Viti Levu. Labasa is close to the coast on the other big island called Vanua Levu, the smaller and northern-most island of the two largest islands in Fiji.

The past two days, we have been able to spend our time at the Sangum Institute of Technology College of Nursing, a privately-funded institution located here in Labasa. It has an undergraduate bachelor of nursing program, a bridging nursing program, and a nurse practitioner program. We have spent time with the nursing students there and have learned a ton in the process. It has been a wonderful and special experience, and one I will cherish for a very long time!

Tuesday morning, we were able to sit in on lecture classes with the third and final-year nursing students. Their lectures were about CPR and transcultural nursing practice. It was very neat to see how CPR both in the US and in Fiji is taught exactly the same, even down to the details!

We also got to learn a lot of interesting facts, beliefs, and practices pertaining to Fiji’s unique culture that we didn’t know before during their transcultural lecture. I learned so much while comparing and contrasting Fijian social and health-related culture to our own. I even learned how to say hello, goodbye, how are you, and other phrases in iTaukei (the native Fijian language), Hindi (the Indo-Fijian language), Rotuman (another indigenous Fijian language), Chinese, and even Filipino! These five languages pertain to the five most common unique ethnicities found in Fiji, with native iTaukei & Indian being the most common.

After the morning classes, we got to spend lunchtime with the students for an hour. This was so great. We had a lot of great chances to talk to the students about their different cultures and religions, their lives, their schooling, their families, and to just get to know them. Many students were more on the shy side, some were definitely more outgoing and fearless, and most all that I interacted with were full of a genuine generosity and kindness. It was very sweet and inspiring.

In the afternoon, we actually had the unique opportunity to teach some of the Fijian students in place of their normal classes. We had learned and prepared to teach a program on neonatal resuscitation called “Helping Babies Breath” before traveling to Fiji.

So for 2 and 1/2 hours, we collaborated with several nurse practitioner students from BYU in training the Fijian nursing students in the art of resuscitation, and specifically how to ventilate a baby. It was a really fun and interactive experience, with the Fijian students getting to practice on mannequin babies who could simulate chest rise, real breathing, crying, and heart rate with real bag and mask ventilators. At the end, we were able to pass off the skills they had learned and sign off on certificates of completion for them. It really meant a lot to so many of them, and they were really proud of what they had accomplished. It was such a cool experience too to be able to teach in that program in that setting with those kids. I learned so much about effective teaching, about engagement, and about how to relate to and include multiple different cultures while doing so.

It was definitely a growing experience for me, and truly was so much fun!

That ended our day, and the next day we followed the same schedule. We also got to participate in a class they call “tutorial”, which is where a portion of the nursing students divide into small groups, are given a prompt, topic or question to answer, and then have to research and prepare a short oral presentation on that topic with visual aids. We got to be included in those students groups and work as teams to prepare and complete the presentations together. This was a really fun experience, because we got to have a dialogue about the different ways we as nurses in Fiji versus the US would approach a health care situation. We also got to interact and talk more with each other as peers, which was fun. 🙂

By the end of the second day, it really was safe to say that we had made a lot of sweet friends at Sangam. 🙂 I was very sad to leave, and wish I could have stayed for longer.

But, tomorrow we will get to go play “sports” with them at the end of their school day for one hour before we leave for Savusavu, so that should be awesome! Hoping it will be a perfect way to say goodbye. More to come later (including pictures…the wifi is struggling a bit, haha)….but thanks for following along!

Vinaka!

-Madison