GVI – Outstanding Volunteer Project 2019

The GVI Dawusamu Health Programme exists to improve healthcare to rural communities in Fiji. With over 50 volunteers, GVI have supported community health workers in delivering strong health education programmes.

Volunteers are provided with a substantial amount of responsibility from the day they arrive in Fiji, from contributing to educational resource creation to developing education workshops through reviewing health policies from local government and quantifying data on health concerns within the community. This allows community health workers to focus on caring for the community. The role volunteers play in supporting health education builds the confidence of the community health worker while also enhancing their capacity in their day to day role.

Trust is a critical element in ensuring the success of project and requires full integration from volunteers who become a close member of the community and protects traditional values of the village they are staying in. Each volunteer is “adopted into a family” who they live with throughout their time in Fiji and maintain contact with when they return home.

Volunteers are rewarded with a host of benefits, from training on key skills to being completely immersed to the local community. Volunteers can also contribute to the future of the projects they are working on and become ambassadors of the programme through the GVI Alumni programme, sharing their experiences with new applicants.

Discover how volunteers contributes to local and global issues on the GVI website.