Page 49 - Fiji Traveller 8

YOUNG FIJIANS URGED TO

TAKE A VOYAGE BACK HOME

By Kite Pareti competition and touch rugby matches are also in the pipeline.
Catering to the descendants of the Girmitayas, Kepa
Lomanikoro, a small chiefly village in the province of Rewa says a trip to Naivilaca will likely take place - the village
in eastern Fiji, is the first site of an initiative that aims to responsible for the rescuing of survivors from the Syria which
reconnect young Fijians living abroad with their cultural roots. ran aground a nearby reef in 1884.
The initiative titled ‘Voyager: A Journey Back Home’, offers “That would be a great experience for the diaspora youth
two weeks of hands-on learning experiences about Fijian to go and spend time there,” said Ro Teimumu.
customs, crafts, dance and language and is set to welcome Director of Fiji travel agency Pacific Voyager, Michael
its first cohort from New Zealand in December. Mausio, says the program will help Fijians rediscover their
It has the backing of Roko Tui Dreketi (the Paramount cultural roots and empower rural communities and promote
Chief of Dreketi and head of the Burebasaga Confederacy), a more sustainable way of life.
Ro Teimumu Kepa, who is also a former Education Minister. Sole Fintech has also joined the Voyager initiative to
“Our people are mostly subsistence people that live in provide its mobile financing services.
the village. They rely on the land and the rivers for their Founder Semi Tukana noted: “Financial literacy is there
sustenance and daily [income], providing food for the markets and we’re providing the tool… We will approach all the
in Suva and Nausori,” said Ro Teimumu. shops, canteens and even the water taxis around that area
“One thing we can show them is how to kari sasa (traditional to be onboard [this project].”
broom making) because we supply [the items]. Most of the “You don’t have to leave home to make a decent living. You
people that you see on the road and in the markets [selling can remain in your villages, in your cultural ways of life, and
brooms] are from Rewa,” she added. earn much more than those that have migrated [overseas],”
Other planned activities include scraping coconuts, making added Mausio.
qalu (a mochi-like treat made of taro in caramel sauce), He says they plan to involve other villages across Fiji and
making lovo (food cooked underground), exploring rivers neighbouring island nations in the program.
and catching prawns, and trapping mud crabs. A bamboo raft

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