Volunteer Abroad in Fiji

Abstract

For my STEP experience, I helped out on a two-week community service trip in the Dawasamu District in Fiji through GVI. GVI was founded in order to implement high quality sustainable development and experiential education programs around the world. As a volunteer on this trip, I assisted with key infrastructure construction projects, set up income generating community based initiatives, and worked on studies that inform important environmental management decisions by local authorities. This program took place from May 4th, 2019 until May 18th, 2019. The academic components of this trip included partaking and being actively involved in the pre-trip meeting, as well as being engaged and comprehensive in the daily reflections that occur every night during this trip. The transformational aspects of this experience was the fact that I am able to accomplish a long time goal of helping out others in a poverty struck community. Through this experience I was also be able to obtain new values and beliefs by being surrounded by Fijian culture. This volunteer experience also related back to my pre-medical career path. In order to be successful in the medical field, I will have to be able to relate with all different types of people, including people from all different backgrounds, ethnicities and cultures. This experience allowed for me to start my transformational experience that will allow me to learn beliefs and values from a differing culture and implement these values and beliefs into my own pre-existing beliefs.