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fake it,” he emphasised.
Selfless Fiji has assisted a wide range of local organisations
such as St. Christopher's Home, where volunteers fixed a
children’s swing set after 13 years in disrepair. “I called my
friends, they brought all their equipment and with the help of a
donor, they fixed it,” said Rabuli.
The striking blue picket fence at Dilkusha Home is another
effort by Selfless Fiji. “It took us five weeks. Almost 300 people
volunteered with us, mostly students from Adi Cakobau School.
They had approached us because they wanted their students to
be involved,” he said.
Rabuli is also a board member with the non-profit Foundation
for the Education of Needy Children in Fiji (FENC). Through this
partnership, volunteers at Selfless Fiji have provided support in
vetting hundreds of educational assistance forms. “There were
30 of our volunteers helping there and seven of them were
employed by FENC. Wherever we go, we want to create those
sorts of opportunities,” he said.
Now, the team at Selfless Fiji is handling a new project –
helping 26 senior citizens at the Valelevu Hart Nursing Home.
Rabuli, who resides in the Nasinu area where the senior home
is located, noted that due to “repeated burglary” incidents, he
especially with funding. You require a lot of supportive people to and his team are working on setting up a secure fence and a
pull a project off.” new sign board.
Selfless Fiji started with 20 people and now has around 2300 “We're also looking at avenues with the support of donors
active volunteers, who are based locally and abroad, said Rabuli. who manufacture food where they could supply 40 dozen eggs,
The group is leaving its mark, quite literally in many cases, on 20kg of sausages, 3 bags of chicken every month; that's where
community projects across the country. I'm looking to sustain the home. It's all about protecting the
“We have carried out nearly 30 projects across Fiji in the past senior citizens,” he said.
two years… [and] the credit goes to so many people who back There are also plans to paint a new mural at a local school in
our work." Nawaisomo village on Beqa Island.
Rabuli believes it is necessary to create an environment where “The school has been run by the [students’] parents for the past
volunteers are treated like family. five years. Apart from painting the whole place, we're hoping to
“The reason why we’ve grown so big is, I always believe in a provide a new mattress for their sick bay. There are 20 students
personal sort of approach. With the volunteers, it doesn’t matter at the school who are 4 to 5 years old. We're also hoping to
if it’s 100 or 300, I’d like to know who they are personally, like secure a grant so that the school can operate well,” said Rabuli.
their names. I don’t like calling people like, ‘hey lewa’ or ‘boy’; “I want so many young people to go through our projects and
calling people by their names means a lot. It builds that sort of see what life has to offer, and maybe along the way, they could
connection with people like, ‘Oh, he knows me’. I’ll take you pick up some lessons that they could take back home with them
around and introduce you to everyone where it makes you want or probably shape them to be better and make a change in
to keep coming like, ‘I belong there’. people's lives,” he added.
“You’re meeting people that can potentially be long-lasting Selfless Fiji also provides volunteers with opportunities in
friends. Some of the volunteers see me as family because I creative writing, sporting activities, financial literacy sessions,
attend their functions, like birthdays and weddings. We want and more.
to create that sort of connection because our work requires
touching people’s lives. Our work needs to be genuine. You can't To support Selfless Fiji, visit www.selflessfiji.com

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