Out of all of my trips, Fiji was an emotional roller coaster: there were a few moments where I almost spent all of my money on a plane trip home. Not due to the scenery being underwhelming, or the people unwelcoming, (definitely nOt the case) but because in many respects the country was so far away from everything I knew and expected.

Quick tip: don’t travel from the North of England all the way to the heart of the Pacific Ocean for 2 weeks. It’s faaaar too long a journey for such a short amount of time. That being said, it’s stunning so give yourself long enough to properly explore. Also make sure that you’ve got a hefty bank account so you can afford the island life: I didn’t have that much money, but I made the best out of it. I even had a wild Manta Ray swim past me in the Pacific Ocean (GAP YAHH)!!!!!

I’m hesitant to be completely honest about my experience in Fiji because I met some really great people there, many of whom I hope to see again. But my first week didn’t give me the same bliss I experienced in the second, on a private island surrounded by the ocean.

I spent the start of my trip helping in a local boys’ school as a teaching assistant, and went into it thinking that it might be similar to my experience in Nepal: it wasn’t. The children themselves were super sweet, but kids are always sweet, they can’t help it. What was more notable, was the underlying physical and emotional violence present within the school. Namely through the teachers in the school using corporal punishment. The class I was with was one of the youngest, and worst behaved, so I watched the teacher strike and verbally intimidate the kids regularly. This created an atmosphere with heightened physical violence where the boys would spend a lot of their break-times hitting each other during playtime. The first thing the teacher I assisted told me was to not get close (emotionally) to the children. I understood that she meant it on a disciplinary level: to create distance and respect between adults and children. But I can’t see how the way she went about it helped the children at all. It was clear to me that many of those who were misbehaving had learning difficulties or experienced physical violence at home, or both.

At this point it became very clear to me that there was very little I could do in that situation. I can’t describe how affecting it is to have a 6 year old child look you in the eye with tears in his eyes as his wrist or ankle is slapped with a wooden ruler, and not be able to do anything. But it comes down to the fact that as the intruder in the room, what right did I have to tell someone that an element of their culture was right or wrong? Some might say that I should have said something, but I didn’t see how that would have achieved anything but made it seem like I was a privileged white girl trying to push my Western views onto another culture. Instead, I tried very hard to stop the boys from doing things to provoke punishment. For those who fell behind in their work, I did my best to catch them up and for those who were about to do something mischievous, I pegged it across the room to try and stop them from doing it. I also allowed them to stand behind me and hug me when their teacher wasn’t looking, seeing as it was obvious that many were starved of positive physical contact.

I’m couldn’t really tell you my opinion of that teacher. On one hand, I watched her hit the kids, and that repulsed me. But then she also seemed like a hard-working, tough woman intent on ensuring that those children received a decent education. Spending time in that classroom, even for such a short time showed me that living in different cultures is not always easy. I have strong views on the subject of corporal punishment in schools as a result of my upbringing in the North of England. That teacher’s views were the polar opposite to my own, but then she had a very different upbringing to me. What is difficult to navigate in that situation, is to what degree I can express my opposition without reeking of western imperialist superiority.

I’m not sure how well I did in such a short time, but I like to think that those kids will remember the hugs I gave them and the parts of the alphabet I taught them.