From The Crowd

Can kava mana be exported?

Kava is the ancient drink of Pacific people. Surrounded in custom, and steeped in thousands of years of tradition, it is considered a ‘life source’ for many. ‘Anau Mesui Henry describes kava as ‘being alive’,...

21st September

Turtle conservation | Urgent action needed for Fiji

New preliminary research findings highlight persistent and alarming rate of ongoing sea turtle harvesting, which directly contradicts the welldefined regulations prohibiting this practice. A troubling trend that warrants immediate attention. The findings identified major harvesting hotspots in the provinces of Lomaiviti, Macuata, Kadavu, and Bua. The turtle, also known as vonu or ika bula, holds...

20th September

Sinking islands

On a tiny island in the Caribbean sea, hundreds of people are preparing to move to escape rising sea levels that threaten homes. Carti Sugtupu is only the size of five football fields but the island, off Panama’s northern coast, crams houses together with barely an inch to spare. Some homes jut out to the...

19th September

Pacific families feel the strain | The ‘painful dollar’ of Australian farms

The evenings are always the hardest for Nai Misipeka. Alone with her five children, after cooking and cleaning, she puts them to bed. With Fiji four hours ahead of Western Australia, the time difference means by the time her husband John gets off work their conversations are almost always tinged with sadness. “When he calls...

17th September

Behind the News | Think before you defrauded

There’s a famous saying that goes like this – the love of money is the root of all evil. Do you remember? That was coined by the Apostle Paul of the Bible in Chapter 6 of his letter to Timothy. During his time, which is over 2000 years ago, Paul had put across the message...

A trailblazer’s journey through a lifetime of service

In the remote village of Drekeniwai, nestled in the famed Natewa Bay, young Vane Dulukorewa Nawalowalo’s life took shape in a world she neither chose nor resented. Her parents were civil servants and they were posted to Vaturova in Cakaudrove, where she attended Korotasere District School. It was at this school, where she attended class...

16th September

Opinion | Our contradictions … When wellbeing becomes ill-being

Have you ever considered that the iTaukei’s plight as most poor might be an outcome of cultural attitude? The Fiji Bureau of Statistics 2019:2020 Household Income and Expenditure Survey reveal that Fiji’s indigenous people, the iTaukei comprise 75 per cent of the poor population which is not in proportion with their claim to 62 per...

Opinion | The dark side of seasonal work

SEASONAL workers are treated as modern slaves in Australia. This startling information was revealed to the Catholic Conference of Heads of Religious Missionary Organisations in the Pacific, held at the Pacific Regional Seminary on August 29 to September 1. Fr Peter O’Neil from Talitha Kum – Australia, reported that seasonal workers have to surrender their...