Fiji Day 6 - Dionnah

Day 6 (24 Jun 2025)

Dionnah

Today was our 3rd official day in the village. I have no roosters to wake up to so I was able to hear the sounds of my baby sister’s laughs and cries in the morning. Waking up to the sound of a full house puts me right to sleep so it’s a struggle getting up each morning. So, as I was late I ran up the hill to the community center where I saw my friends waiting for me. I walked in and noticed a soccer ball that was well hidden from the small kids, but it looked as flat as a pancake. I made a note to grab my pump from my house so we can all enjoy it together.

Today’s class was about testing the waters, so we got to explore the rivers and other water sources. We hiked up the mountain to the stream and analyzed different aspects like Ph, temperature, how much nitrite or other things. Hiking up the mountain I was accompanied by songs by Justin Biber, or Ed Sheran. Of course, I had the occasional singing along too but listening made the time go by faster. Once we got to the river, the conversation drastically switched over to cartoon jingles. The childhood cartoon songs were refreshing just like the slow cold stream we were walking through. Later on, as we trekked up a different mountain you could see the little ants of the log. I thought how brave they are to be so small in this big tropical forest and survive. After all our data was collected, we circled up at the community hall to share our newly found information with each other. I learned the Ph by the stream which is closer to the source has a Ph of about 7.3 and a 7 is what it’s supposed to be. Then later down the line I saw how the temperature increased as we went down which was sad because that means our families don’t get the coldest drinking water since it's getting heat up by the sun. Still, I had hope once we learned of the filtration system in place and the hopes that the village will grow way up the mountains and as they grow, they will get cleaner water for everyone.

For lunch we all tried pumpkin soup. It had a nice kick to it and a deep reddish orange color. It was something new to everyone and I’m glad everyone tried it. After lunch we went to go sit under the sun and play catch with someone’s football. Our playtime was cut short because it was time to get ready to go to the boarding school. After yesterday’s singing in class, we were invited to sing or do more fun activities with the kids in grade 1 and 2. We were able to run around the field with the wind in our hair and our siblings chasing us around. We got to explain sharks and minnows with the help of the teacher as our translator we successfully pulled it off. The final kid may or may not have gotten tagged before the game was over, but it ended in laughs and giggles on the field. As the sun was setting and the frogs were hopping out it was time to go. We each made our way home to our houses for some well-earned rest.  You can always hear the sounds of someone’s nene (host mom) offering some tea or a bula in the street.








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