Teitei Livelihoods Centre – Workshops
COURSE IN HOME-STAY AND VILLAGE-STAY TOURISM
Funded by an Economic Recovery Grant from the United States Embassy, in Suva, Fiji
With so many people out of work because of covid, the US embassy awarded our NGO with a grant to provide training in rural tourism and livelihoods – a training that would require a series of workshops. After screening many applicants, we identified eight teams (19 people) who we thought could be most successful with our training.
The opening workshop of the course is Basics of Rural Homestay Management. Our first cohort of ten wonderful participants took this workshop from 17-23 January. Fun fun fun!
Maintaining standards of comfort and cleanliness …. including, of course, how to make a bed.
Classes and more classes – marketing, finances, assuring guest safety, common pitfalls of owning your own homestay business.
Farm tour by Eminoni – given top marks by EVERYBODY.
Training session: making chocolate. Yum yum!
Other classes included: Catering for different dietary restrictions and making meal plans with entirely local foods. A demonstration of making great pasta dishes by an experienced sous-chef. Hands-on making virgin coconut oil and vegan coconut cheese. Hands on making soap. Role playing how to handle common problems with guests (“I think somebody stole my shoes.” “Aunty, your guest isn’t wearing clothing in the river.”). Each team coming up with a small plan to start making money from local products as they get ready for the return of tourism.
Six days was not nearly enough time. These friends will be back for two more advanced workshops. But for now:
Farewell to the beautiful friends who successfully completed our very first workshop on Basics of Rural Homestay Management.
And kudos to Monica – our lead trainer. (Here is a close-up of her lovely face)
And one more story about Monica. To get ready for this workshop she hired four eager, hard-working, unemployed youths … taught them the “Standards of Comfort and Cleaniness” class on the job as they spent four days whipping our buildings and grounds into shape. We considered them like a test class.
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Keep an eye on this page as we post our upcoming workshops. If you’d like to talk to us about a private workshop, get in touch via our contact form.
Previous Workshops – 2019
Regenerative Living Masterclass with Friends of Kyeema @ Teitei – 17-23 July 2019
Nine Australians joined us for a week to experience farm living and learn hands-on skills in permaculture. Workshops included:
- Basic permaculture principles
- Chicken raising
- Traditional cooking
- Chocolate making
- Coconut products
- Coral restoration
International Coral Gardener Workshop @ Plantation Island Resort, Malolo Island Fiji – 13-20 May 2019
Our first coral gardening for climate change adaptation workshop!
Participants learnt about coral restoration ecology, coral nursery methods, coral predator removal, as well as how to select bleaching resistant corals for the reef restoration work. Together, we established a ‘super coral’ nursery, and introduced an A-frame method, a first for Fiji.
The week was interesting, exciting, and a whole lot of fun for everyone.
Kiribati Happy Chicken Workshop @ Teitei – 9-18 April 2019
A group of five community representatives flew in from the remote coral atolls of Aranuka, Marakei, and Tarawa, with the transport paid for by an Australian grant to our Kiribati partner, FSPK.
Participants were taught how to raise their own breeding flock of chickens and how to care for them, including housing, feeding and general rearing tips. They also learnt how to make virgin coconut oil (fermentation method) and soap, and how to engage their community in participatory decision making for better development outcomes.
