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Volunteer with Children in Fiji

Help local kindergarten teachers and support early childhood education on the island of Viti Levu

Destination

Fiji

Age

16+ y/o

Minimum Stay

2 weeks

Start Date

Anytime

Accommodation

Homestay

What’s Included

24/7 Support

Round-the-clock support on the ground and 24/7 back up from our global teams.

Accommodation & Amenities

Clean, safe, and welcoming accommodation. A home away from home with comfortable amenities.

Activities, Training & Equipment

All programme activities and equipment, including training and workshops from experienced professionals.

Certification

Certified record of service hours, workshops, and activities for your CV.

Request Info

Starting at £1,775 for 2 weeks

Flexible 0% Interest payments

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Trip Overview

Build up your teaching skills

Work with and learn from teaching professionals to design fun educational activities to develop essential physical, cognitive, and social skills.

Dedicated disability support

Provide specific attention and create a stimulating learning environment for children with special needs, giving them everything they need to succeed.

Promote healthy habits

Heart disease and diabetes are some of the most common killers in Fiji — give children the knowledge they need to lead a healthier lifestyle.

Explore the Pacific paradise

Live with a welcoming host family, explore the vibrance of Nadi and island life, and explore the local pristine beaches and historical sites.

Push yourself for personal development

Leave a lasting impact on the community, develop your own skills, and experience something totally different to grow in confidence and independence.

What you need to know

Overview

If you’ve ever dreamed of living on a tropical island and want to do some good at the same time, volunteer work with children in Fiji is for you!

The project is open to anyone who loves working with children and wants to get some practical experience. It will also add skills to your CV, like leadership and planning, that can help your future career.

You don’t need any prior childcare experience. All you need is energy, a touch of creativity, and a desire to help. Our staff are there to help and guide you. We also provide you with training, workshops, and resources.

Some of the children we work with have special needs and require speech therapy. If you have a background in these fields, your assistance would be welcomed.

A Day in the Life

You will start your day with breakfast, prepared by and enjoyed with your host family. After breakfast, you’ll take public transport to your placement. On your first day, Projects Abroad staff will travel with you so that you learn how to get to your placement.

Your day will normally run from about 8.30am to 3pm, coinciding with kindergarten times.

In the mornings, you’ll help teachers with more academic class activities, such as literacy and numeracy. After the children’s morning break, it’s time to have some fun with arts and crafts, games, and reading. Our assessment checklists will help you determine which activities to focus on with the children.

If you work close to where your host family lives, you can head home for lunch. If not, your lunch will be provided at the placement.

In the afternoons, you can offer remedial classes to small groups of students who may need extra attention.

Evenings and weekends are your free time to relax and explore with fellow volunteers or new local friends.

Aims & Impact

The main aim of this project is to support local kindergarten teachers and caregivers in Fiji and promote early childhood education. With a good educational foundation, young children then have the skills they need to succeed at school.

We work in low-income areas where class sizes are far too big to allow teachers time to work personally with children. As a volunteer, you provide an extra pair of hands to reach more children. We also work with a special needs centre which almost 100 children attend. They greatly benefit from receiving experienced and qualified volunteers to support them in their daily care.

We’ve laid out five goals in our Childcare Management Plan to help us make this project sustainable:

Promote early childhood development
Increase literacy
Improve the quality of life for those living with disabilities
Improve awareness of healthy living and the environment
Improve the level of stimulation to each child

You can help us reach these goals by signing up to be a Childcare volunteer in Fiji.

Activities

As a volunteer doing childcare work in Fiji, you’ll support teachers and caregivers in care centres. Here are some of the tasks you can expect to do during your placement:

Promote early childhood education through fun, educational activities
Work with small groups to Increase the level of stimulation each child receives
Share knowledge about wellness through health and hygiene workshops
Improve the lives of those living with special needs

Your work will focus on the following areas:

Promote early childhood development through fun activities

You’ll help local coordinators and caregivers create activities that develop the children’s physical, cognitive, and social abilities. This could involve:

Playing educational games
Doing arts and crafts
Singing songs
Playing sports

Increase the level of stimulation each child receives

In Fiji, large class sizes often prevent teachers from dedicating individual attention and support to each child. After school, you can work closely with students who may be struggling with lessons, bringing small groups together to provide extra support, facilitate a reading club, or assist with homework.

Improve awareness of healthy living and the environment

Many Fijians suffer from conditions such as heart disease and diabetes. This is normally caused by a relatively sedentary lifestyle and poor diet. Currently, almost 80% of deaths in Fiji are caused by these types of conditions that could be prevented and managed quite easily with the correct knowledge.

You can help increase wellness levels in Fiji by using class time to present workshops. Topics could include:

Personal hygiene
Healthy cooking demonstrations
Examples of what a healthy lunch box looks like
Fitness and exercise-related activities

The children can go home and share their knowledge with older family members, encouraging them to consider a more healthy lifestyle.

Improve the lives of those living with special needs

We also work with children with special needs. Here, you can make a big impact by providing individual support and stimulation to the children. Arts and crafts and music lessons are always popular.

If you have a qualification in any sort of therapy, you could also help out with this.

Map & Location

Dive into Fiji, an archipelago of more than 330 islands in the South Pacific. With sandy beaches, blue water, and lush rainforest, it’s the very vision of the tropical paradise in your imagination.

But it’s more than that. Fiji is a melting pot of culture, with influences from Polynesia, India, and Europe. With ancient villages and even older traditions dating back 3,500 years, it is steeped in history and culture — a perfect escape for water sports, relaxation, and cultural discovery.

Nadi

Nadi, on the western coast of Viti Levu, is a lively town of around 42,000 residents and a major transport hub for Fiji. It offers a tropical climate with warm temperatures and plenty of places to make the most of it.

The colourful Sri Siva Subramaniya Swami Temple is a prominent landmark in the town due to its large Hindu population. Nadi also provides easy access to the stunning beaches and turquoise waters of nearby islands, marking it high on the bucket list of beach lovers.

Food & Accommodation

Enjoy the thrills of Fiji with one of our vetted local host families. You’ll have a comfortable bed, three meals a day, fresh drinking water, and daily transport to your placement organised by our staff.

Your home away from home will be safe, clean, and comfortable, ideal for your island paradise adventure. Your host family will give you a glimpse into the local culture and will be eager to learn about yours, sharing stories and experiences over home-cooked food.

We will always try to house you with at least one other Projects Abroad participant, so whether you go alone or with friends, you’ll have the chance to connect with people from around the world. Head to sparkling sand beaches, visit historic temples, or browse artisan markets with your newfound friends and family.

Free Time and Leisure

Experience the beauty of the South Pacific while volunteering with us in Fiji. This tropical island country has plenty of activities and must-see sights for you to enjoy in your free time.

We can’t talk about Fiji without mentioning the beaches. With their soft, white sand and clear, blue seas, they are the ideal place to relax and wind down after a day of volunteer work. With the beaches come a bunch of other exciting activities, like water sports and snorkelling.

For a culture-rich experience, you can explore the bright, rainbow-coloured Sri Siva Subramaniya Temple. You can also spend time wandering through art galleries or browsing through stunning handmade pottery in Nadi.

The Kula Eco Park gives you the opportunity to see local plants and animals. For thrill seekers, they also have a zipline going through the park!

You can explore all these different sights on your own or with a group. With so many volunteers joining us in Fiji each year, you’re bound to make some new friends to travel with.

Your Arrival Made Easy

When you arrive at your respective airport, a member of Projects Abroad staff will be there to meet you. You can find more detailed information on arrival airports, orientation, and visas on our Fiji Arrival Procedures page.