Master's International student warms up to Fiji

Brooke McDavid weaves a mat for her house in Fiji.

By Brooke McDavid, SNRAS Master's International student

I write to you from a village by the sea on the Southwest point of the second largest island in Fiji, just a small dot on the world map in Viti Levu. I am three hours away from the nearest American and six hours by bus from the nearest town. Nope, I'm not on vacation -- I'm a United States Peace Corps volunteer. And while I often enjoy the idyllic landscape around me, I am here for two years to work and represent my home country. I am writing because part of this experience is to share it with others and I feel there is still a significant percentage of the U.S. population that doesn't know exactly what the Peace Corps does, or why we do it. Every volunteer's story is unique but something we have in common has brought us all together to serve.

I applied for the Peace Corps because I believe in their mission and approach to development. The Peace Corps is a capacity building organization with a huge cultural exchange component. Volunteers do not bring money or infrastructure; we bring skills and knowledge to countries that request our assistance. Volunteers live in communities in over 139 countries where we take a grassroots approach towards development. We become part of the community, not just foreigners who have come to help. We eat the local food, live at the same standards as those around us, respect local cultural norms and values, and (try to) speak the local language -- all while maintaining qualities that make us American (whatever that means!).

There is most certainly a need for foreign aid in the form of disaster relief and post-war reconstruction; however, there is also a need to build people, and not just "things." A proverb, however cliché, applies to my point: "Feed a man a fish and he's full for a day. Teach a man to fish and he's full for a lifetime." In essence, this is what the Peace Corps is all about: empowering people to invoke positive changes in their own lives and in their own communities.

So that brings me to Fiji... What could I possibly be doing as a volunteer in tropical paradise? While Fiji may be beautiful, it is indeed a developing nation with a mostly rural population depending on agriculture and subsistence harvest from the land and sea. Tourism is in very isolated parts of the country. Not many people are hungry here -- a blessing of a tropical climate -- but poverty is multi-dimensional. Poverty not only has to do with income and food security, but also access to education and health care, equal rights for all minorities and genders, and a healthy environment. Outside Fiji, there are people in more dire need of food and shelter; my heart goes out to them in earnest. But isn't there great worth in development efforts which focus on preventing the need for those other kinds of aid? If we can address environmental, health and governance issues before they take a turn for the worse, shouldn't we?

This brings me to my role as a Peace Corps volunteer. I am considered an "Environment Sector" volunteer, and while my over-arching program focuses on issues related to natural resource management, the Peace Corps remains a 24/7 job that includes everything from helping children with homework to showing adults how to set up budgets to raising awareness about health and nutrition issues. It's often these side tasks that make the experience most fulfilling because they involve developing relationships and friendships with those around me. I learn just as much (if not more) from my community as they learn from me.

Island time definitely exists and while it can be frustrating at times, it teaches me to slow down and be patient, and to reflect upon life. I smile thinking about the distance between Nitro, W.V., and the South Pacific. And about how my last winter in Fairbanks (where temperatures can reach -50°F) could not have been more opposite than this "winter" here (with average winter month temperatures of 84°F!).

The Peace Corps is a component of my graduate degree program. I am a student at the University of Alaska Fairbanks where I spent the last school year studying Natural Resources Management (NRM) with a focus on community-based NRM. I learn best by doing, so I chose a program that would enhance my classroom time by allowing me to go out into the world and challenge the things I've learned. The Master's International program operates at various universities throughout the U.S. in several program and study areas.

I believe that the reason I wound up in Fiji, of all places, is because Fiji is unique in its history in that during colonial times native peoples largely maintained land ownership. While the white man definitely has had an impact on culture, much of the traditions were able to prevail through to independence. What exists today is a land ownership system centered at the community level. Clans (family groups) communally own almost 90 percent of the land in Fiji. As a student interested in community-based NRM, my placement couldn't have been more perfect. Villages own and can do almost whatever they please with small-scale ecosystems and landscapes.

For example, my village is on the coast but most of the land extends into the mountainous interior where farming takes place on the hillsides. Fijians have a very close relationship with the land and a vast knowledge of the local environment. Since Fiji was inhabited around 3,500 years ago, people have been depending on the land and sea for food, resources and income. It's been a relatively healthy relationship, but times change and just like everywhere else in the world, development and population growth have brought not just their virtues, but also their vices. The whole world is at a tipping point, but I'm only one person and at a global scale my efforts don't have much effect. However, I hope at a community level I can have an impact in tipping that scale towards sustainability.

In order to achieve this, I'm working with my village to write a Development Plan. The process of planning and thinking about the future isn't a typical part of the culture, but it seems to be giving the community a chance to see that they have the power to work together for positive growth. They are prioritizing their needs and wants (clean water, electricity, a kindergarten, flush toilets/septic tanks, etc.). The plan goes beyond improving infrastructure to include sections on good governance and sustainable resource management. The community has an inherent incentive to be stewards of the land and sea because it in turn sustains them. (This, I believe, applies to the world around, but how easy it is to be blind to one's link to nature when surrounded by concrete!)

In the future I hope to continue to work with members in my community to address projects that include setting up a community-managed marine protected area, restoring mangroves and raising awareness about agroforestry, waste management and fishing techniques. Honestly, I don't really know what I'm doing day-to-day, but I'm letting the community guide me and I'm trying to respond to their needs rather than pretend to know what they need.

My eyes have truly been opened to the power of communities and of collective action. We might not feel like there is much we can do or that what we can do is worthwhile, but what I've learned is that we cannot be afraid to try! It is important to get out there, be uncomfortable, and get dirty! Spin the globe and learn something about the most obscure place you can find. There are people in that place just like you, and we all share this world.

It's easy to have strong opinions about international development from the comfort of an air-conditioned building, but none of us really knows what other people truly need. That's why I'm a Peace Corps volunteer -- because I think Americans cannot only set an example by leading, but by stepping back and listening and learning. I may not be able to change the world, but maybe if we each do our small part it will begin to tip us in the right direction.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Peace Corps. If anyone would like more information about the Peace Corps check out peacecorps.gov or call 800-424-8580 to speak to a recruiter in your area. Or feel free to email me!

(For information about the SNRAS Master's International program, contact Professor Steve Sparrow.)

Brooke McDavid and village children walking in Fiji. (Brian Backhaus photo)

The village where McDavid lives. (Brooke McDavid photo)

The view of the village and coast. (Brooke McDavid photo)