Visit the lobby of the Crowne Plaza Fiji Nadi Bay Resort & Spa on Saturday mornings and you will find a table busy with young people threading beads and designing bookmarks.
The talented children come from St Mina Children’s Home, and are working on jewellery and other small gift items as part of the home’s ‘Sow and Reap’ program.
Home Manager Dr Lydia Musa says the program enables residents 14 years and older to “learn new skills, interact with people, understand marketing, entrepreneurship, financial acumen, and earn money as well.”
St Mina Children’s Home in Legalega, Nadi has 22 residents aged between four months and 19 years of age. Founded by the Coptic Orthodox Church, it is dedicated to improving the life of Fijian children and realising their full potential.
“To build the sustainability of the home is really important, especially when it comes to charity,” Dr Musa says. “We’re trying to get rid of this concept of toxic charity, which is where you just give and give and give, and it doesn’t teach anything, or doesn’t become self-sustainable.
“It’s a long journey. It doesn’t happen overnight, especially when you’re changing ideas and cultures and expectations of people, because everyone thinks with charity, you just donate.
“ We teach the kids that actually, I can earn something, I don’t need a handout all the time. Because when they do get a handout, this is just actually solidifying what’s happened in the past and where they’ve come from, which is often from poverty and from begging. We want to break that cycle, and the only way to break that cycle is to make sure that the charities that we have are also self-sustainable in a way, and that the kids learn and have pride in themselves and their talents.”
These talents extend beyond the Saturday morning sessions. Children from St Mina also enjoy cooking, baking, hair-braiding, tie dye, guitar, singing, screen printing, painting and graphic design.
St Mina Children’s Home has formed other partnerships with resorts and hotels beyond the Crowne Plaza, including with the Yatule Resort and Spa at Natadola.
Visit stminaschildrenshome.org to learn more about their work and how you can assist.
