Why Volunteer? F-COSS I Want To…

Well, this weekend didn’t turn out to be the adventure I hoped for…I came down with man flu, i.e. a little sniffly but basically debilitated for 2 days. Hopefully we’ll make up for it this weekend…

Onto a brighter note! Two weeks ago, I wandered into the offices of the FCOSS National Volunteer Centre, looking for volunteer work. After speaking awhile to a very kind-faced man, who turned out to the Executive Director of FCOSS, he agreed to take me on! Last week, I designed two newsletters from the comfort of Patrick and George’s office, but this week I have been working in the FCOSS office itself. I’ve not only been introduced to the lovely staff (one of whom, Ro Iva, has already offered to make Patrick and I traditional Fijian outfits!), but am learning so much more about this fantastic NGO.

What Patrick and I will look like in our sulu and chamba...maybe.

So, let me tell you a little about FCOSS, or the Fiji Council of Social Services. One of their main goals is to help Fijians- especially young people- find employment. Through their various volunteer schemes and workshops, they essentially help people to help themselves, by developing of key work and life skills. However, encouraging employment is not where the work of FCOSS ends; they also provide support for senior citizens. I was fortunate enough to have lunch with the attendees of a Senior Citizens Workshop at FCOSS HQ, and have a chat about their thoughts and feelings. Both of the cheerful gentlemen that I spoke to agreed that the younger generation is losing respect for their elders, and as a result there is a vital gap of knowledge between generations. It’s funny, maybe Fiji and the UK aren’t so different after all…

Sales pitch over! So that’s FCOSS…will hopefully be volunteering for them until I head home at the beginning of December. I only stumbled across them because of the big red banner outside their office building, but it’s opening my eyes to the NGO sector; a world I might never have encountered otherwise. I was almost too shy to walk in, sure that I didn’t have any ‘social service’ skills like care-giving or teaching that I could offer…but it just goes to show, you never know until you try. That’s become my general philosophy in life; never assume you’re not strong enough, skilled enough, clever enough…find out for yourself.

What I’ve especially loved about volunteering at FCOSS is how much they have involved me already. In the space of a week, I’ve been invited to three weddings, the staff Christmas party and a staff ‘Sport’s Day’! The latter- just a fun staff event with Fijian kids’ games- is happening tomorrow…should be a lot of fun! Always good to act silly once in a while! I’m becoming more and more convinced that Fijians are among the friendliest and craziest people in the world…

P.S Apologies for the exceptionally bad blog-post title. It's been a while since I posted one that cheesy...