Being flexible and focusing on the small things

Being a perfectionist, both personally and professionally, my volunteer experience has taught me to be flexible and to let go of preconceived ideas of success by embracing the unpredictability of the surrounding conditions. Focusing on small yet meaningful contributions has allowed me to find value in patience and humility.

I spent 12 months volunteering as an Information Technology Specialist and trainer in Fiji with most of my time split between two partner organisations. Building Innate Resilience Through Hearts (BIRTH) Fiji is a women-led NGO based in Lautoka that provides counselling and mental health support and Vivekananda Technical Center (VTC) offers competency-based vocational training for farmers in Nadi.

Part of the team

My work at BIRTH Fiji focused on setting up essential IT infrastructure for the BIRTH Fiji team, transitioning their operations to the cloud and developing the necessary technical skills to support their everyday function in the office. These changes helped staff to work from anywhere and collaborate more efficiently. My role extended to launching the BIRTH Fiji website and developing branding and social media campaigns to boost the organisation’s online profile.

After the website was launched, we started getting more referrals from people who were trying to find mental health support. BIRTH Fiji also started getting some exposure to other partner organisations locally. The CEO of BIRTH Fiji was invited by NRL Fiji to speak on a panel about domestic violence, having found us through the website. That really touched my heart – seeing the CEO speaking on that panel.

On a personal level I really felt that I was welcome from the get-go. I was the first male volunteer joining BIRTH Fiji but within the first day it felt like I was a team member. The team was always inviting me to all their celebrations - Diwali, Iftar in Ramadan - they made sure that I felt at home. I was overwhelmed by their kindness. The experience reignited the passion I have for helping people; and it reinforced my plans to proceed with my Diploma of Counselling.

Overcoming obstacles

I was at VTC to help deliver the educational programs VTC offers their farming students. They wanted to find a way to help promote their learning through an e-learning platform. From the start we faced some logistical challenges. For example, there was no power for the first month that I was working there. They were running on generators and the internet was patchy, so there were more important matters to attend to. 

Within a few months, I managed to restore and upgrade the adjacent school’s e-learning solution which happened to be down for over two years, allowing the school to resume planning its online course delivery for its students. One of the best moments was when I was on my lunch break and one of the students passed by and said, ‘I know you, you're the person who came to fix our systems.’  

My work also focused on upskilling staff through interactive and fun workshops that covered different subjects such as cybersecurity awareness, AI in education, Microsoft Office products and Canva. The teachers started using Canva to revamp all the content to make it more interactive, especially for the younger generations. It was such a pleasure to work with them and see that progress over time. 

Beyond the assignments

In addition to my work with VTC and BIRTH Fiji, I also had the opportunity to provide short term IT consultancy for two NGO’s, Habitat for Humanity Fiji and Empower Pacific, to resolve urgent issues and advise on their existing IT services. These two short stint assignments were focused on objectives that could be achieved in a short timeframe but could yield high impact results for these two organisations.

Outside the boundaries of my assignment, the achievement I am most proud of was supporting a local rugby team with content creation and social media. This experience took me out of my professional comfort zone and helped raise the team’s profile in the community, creating a real sense of pride for the team and their families. They treated me like a family member and this experience created memories that I will always cherish.