UU104 Fieldtrip Report

A report on the recent fieldtrip undertaken by UU104 students and their Course Coordinator to Naroro village, Nadroga.

Introduction:

Each semester, the students are required to go on a one-week fieldtrip as part of their course. This report covers the fieldtrip in Semester 2, 2006. In going to a village, it is expected that the students would be able to see and experience the kind of Pacific values that we talk about in the course in their proper context.

Venue and dates:

On the recommendation of the Associate Dean, we went to Naroro Village upstream along the Sigatoka River in Nadroga. We arrived there on 2 September and left on 7 September 2006. We followed the proper official channels in obtaining permission to visit the village by going through the Provincial Office and later, fulfilling all the traditional protocols and obligations like presenting our sevusevu to the village. I must commend here the most valuable assistance afforded to us by Fulori Sarai, who hails from Nadroga, and the Assistant Roko in the Provincial Office.

Participants:

All the students enrolled in the course went on this fieldtrip and I accompanied them on this trip as the lecturer in charge of co-ordinating this course.

Aims and objectives:

The students are expected to learn about and participate in village life.

In particular, they are expected to:

• learn about the history of the Naroro people;
• study firsthand sites of historical significance to the Naroro people;
• find out how the village is governed;
• identify the roles played by different people;
• acquire some understanding of the more important customary practices and values like sevusevu, vakavinavinaka, i-tatau, respect, co-operation, and
• participate in village activities like farming, gathering food and talanoa sessions.

Schedule:

As you can see from the attached schedule, the field trip was fully packed with culturally-enriching educational experiences at the informal level. Our Naroro hosts were extremely kind and most accommodating. They made each one of us feel at home and also assisted us to gain access to places of interest using their traditional links with other villagers. They exceeded the expectations that we had (see attachments). The villagers also appreciated our choice to visit them and have asked that in the future, we take UU104 students to them. On the basis of our experiences there, I strongly recommend that we accept their invitation.

Funding:

I thank the Associate Dean for her support and for providing funding for this. I exceeded the original amount that we requested by $400.00. I have provided all the documentation and explanations in an attachment to this report. The basic reason why I exceeded this amount was that I was basing my budget on the amount spent during the fieldtrip to Vanua Levu last semester. I had underestimated the number of places to visit, the distances involved and the corresponding number of sevusevu to be presented in order to satisfy local protocol and obtain blessings and free access to places of cultural importance. I paid the extra amount and will be seeking a refund from FAL

Evaluation:

This was an A++ learning experience! It is impossible to express the full extent of the kind of experiences we had in Naroro. The students were very well looked after and all the villagers willingly assisted all the students to ensure that their tasks (see attachment) were completed to the full. They willingly gave their time, knowledge and experiences and accompanied us on trips to ensure that we were looked after. The accommodations were excellent, as was the food, throughout our stay there. It was truly unforgettable experience. All the above points came through very clearly in the students' evaluation of the fieldtrip.

Appreciation:

I would like to thank the following people for making the trip a superb reality that it was:

• Associate Dean of FAL
• Fulori Sarai
• Assistant Roko
• Chief of Naroro Village
• Turaga ni Koro of Naroro
• Talatala Taniela of Naroro
• All the people of Naroro Village
• My students for making the most of the learning opportunities and for behaving so well throughout the fieldtrip.

Final words:

I would like to recommend that Naroro be used as the venue for UU104 fieldtrip. It is close by, the villagers are willing to have us back, and the vanua has so much to offer us in terms of learning about oral traditions and the past of Fiji.

Teweiariki Teaero
Course co-ordinator

---