Fiji Hub Achievement Report

June 2016
Objective: Workshops for Women

GVI begins delivering womens group workshops in the Dawasamu District

At the beginning of June, Community expedition project volunteers and staff delivered the first of
many workshops with the womens group of Silana. In the wake of Severe Tropical Cyclone Winston,
the community, in particular the ladies, have become increasingly open and enthusiastic to
community education workshops. Starting with basic first aid workshops, Global Vision International
is excited to increase the capacity in which it works with the women of Dawasamu.
While assisting in basic first aid after Cyclone Winston, Global Vision International staff saw a need
for the community to gain skills in basic first aid practises. After consultation with key members in
the community, it became very clear that the women of the village had a desire to learn first aid
after being unable to assist injured family members throughout the disaster. GVI community staff
and volunteers designed an interactive workshop to teach the womens group how to do basic
dressings, treat boils, treat Cika and how to assist in emergency situations. The workshop was then
shown to the Dawasamu District Nurse to assess its suitability for the community. The practical
workshop was delivered in partnership with the Silana Village health worker, who was able to
translate any areas of confusion. The workshop has been delivered to the ladies of Silana and
Tacileka with great response from the communities, it will be delivered to the other villages of
Dawasamu, before being implemented in Motoriki.

Not only was the First Aid

Workshop incredibly
beneficial in isolation, it
has assisted in creating the
opportunity for future
workshops between GVI
and the womens groups of
Dawasamu. In addition to
first aid, Cyclone Winston
highlighted the need and
desire for workshops on
nutrition. After living off
food rations delivered by
the government, all
underweight children were drastically increasing in weight, highlighting to parents and health
workers the lack of a balanced diet prior to the cyclone. Going forward GVI community project staff
and volunteers are working on an interactive nutrition workshop as well as opening a forum in which
women can request areas of education. Initially womens groups will be asked to put forward topics
they would like further information on, in addition to this the ladies will be asked to rank a list of
areas in order of the priority they play in their lives.

After the recent success of the Silana Womens Group in the EU-GIZ awards for women in climate
change for their Loloma Silana purses, it is an exciting time to empower the women further and
encourage them to work together to achieve goals. The desire the ladies of Dawasamu have shown
to increasing their ability to assist their communities is admirable and has worked towards
strengthening the sustainability driven partnership GVI holds with the community. The village health
worker of Silana will continue assisting in delivering the workshops throughout the district as well as
offering training and support to village health workers to assist in delivering the workshops to their
own villages. The level of community engagement has been amazing to see and leaves an exciting
future for further GVI and
community lead womens
workshops and projects.