Project details

Project Background

Rural communities in Fiji are often disconnected from key medical facilities, putting them at a disadvantage. This may be due to lack of transport options or infrastructure allowing access to healthcare, as well as transportation costs. For example, from a village in the highlands it may take three hours in expensive transport to access the simplest of medical treatment.
In addition, medical equipment cannot be delivered to any community unless there is an officially registered, purpose-built, and secure facility where medical equipment and medicine may be stored under lock and key, in a clean and dry environment. Basic medical services also cannot take place without this provision.

Project Overview

Think Pacific’s Community Build projects aim to provide vital infrastructure and development for rural communities in the Fiji Islands. These aims are guided under our Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Health and Medical Services in Fiji and the Ministry of iTaukei Affairs.

The projects will provide wooden dispensaries with iron roofing to selected rural communities in Fiji, following the successful model of other Think Pacific ‘Build Projects.’ The goal is to enhance healthcare facilities and accessibility to medical services in remote areas of Fiji, contributing to the overall well-being of the local communities.

The project being funded through the Footprints Network will create one community health dispensary, which will take between 10 days to two weeks to implement.

The Ministry of Health and Medical Services in Fiji will highlight communities for this project based on priority and on how the new Health Dispensary may also serve the surrounding communities. Once the communities are selected, we will approach our partners, the Ministry of iTaukei Affairs, and obtain permission to conduct work in the highlighted communities, approaching the chief of each village for his express invitation.

The design of the Community Health Dispensary, designed by our Construction Manager, follows the guidelines stipulated by Fiji’s Ministry of Health and Medical Services.

Community Youth Training Initiative

The project will be overseen by our local On-Site Supervisor, a trained carpenter or tradesman who passes on their knowledge, skills, and experience to the community members involved so that they may build more sustainably and more effectively long-term within their community.

This means that the completed build itself is a product of the training initiative at a local level. This is a fundamental goal of the project and an additional benefit to the physical impact of the build itself.

Project Outcomes

The core outcome is to provide rural communities in Fiji with increased access to basic medical supplies, to upskill and train local youth group members in carpentry skills, and to ultimately provide space and provisions for the Community Health Worker to undertake their work.

The impact of the Community Health Dispensary is:

a) A safe and secure location to store basic medications
b) A location/setting for the Ministry of Health to train and allocate community health workers
c) A location for a community health worker to conduct local workshops, training, diagnosis, and prescription of basic medicines
d) A youth training initiative for a small group of community members to learn sustainable carpentry and tradesmen skills and techniques from Think Pacific’s local building manager

Community Involvement

This project is directed and requested by the Ministry of Health and Medical Services in Fiji, a government branch which inextricably aligns its goals with the Fiji National Development Plan & UN SDG’s.

Government partners:

• Fijian Ministry of Health & Medical Services
• Ministry of iTaukei Affairs
• Ministry of Youth & Sports
• Local provincial council of area highlighted for project

Community partners:

• Village and community members of the area chosen for the project
• Local youth involved in the building and carpentry training program
• Homestay families who accommodate Think Pacific staff
• The community health worker who has been highlighted to use the clinic as their place of work
• Provincial health workers who will provide support to the community health worker

How does this project fit into a larger strategy?

Think Pacific has been working in partnership with local government, under MoU agreements, for over a decade to deliver projects in rural communities that support the implementation of the Fiji National Development plan.