The Think Pacific internship has been an eye-opening experience for me in which I was able to create a real impact on the lives of Fijian community. Having a passion in mental health advocacy, I was grateful to be involved in this 6-week internship which focuses on the development of mental health awareness amongst the Fijian. In collaboration with Psychiatrics Survivors Association, our group successfully created 12-month infographics covering a variety of mental health issues.

Having good mental health is important as it impacts every area of our lives, such as self-portray, relationships with others, work, and others. Despite such significance, many people have minimal knowledge about these issues and/or might be in the denial stage of having a mental issue. For instance, men tend to ignore their mental health status due to the perception of having to be strong in society. Without proper help and education, this could take tolls on their well-being and even lead to unwanted events. Our awareness posters include a general overview of the issue, symptoms, treatments, and medications which are delivered in a concise yet engaging way. To better understand the topics, we provide supplementary videos and examples on how to determine if someone has the said mental health issue. Through our project, we hope to promote awareness about the importance of mental health to the Fijian community such that they could recognize, acknowledge, and seek help from professionals.  

Alongside the project development, this internship also introduces me to the beautiful culture of Fiji and increases my global knowledge of different cultures. I also got the opportunity to compare and contrast my Indonesian culture with the ones in Fiji which leads to a better appreciation of both worlds, for instance, the way of children upbringing, communal structure, infrastructure, and many more. Further understanding of the Fijian culture indeed helped us to better accommodate the needs of the Fijian community as we learned how prevalent mental health issues are and Fijian’s intake of them.

This internship has developed every aspect of my leadership skills. I was fortunate to have Lavenia and Naomi as my supervisor since they encouraged me to speak my mind during sessions and consultations. One of the sessions brought by the Waka Family inspired me to step out of my comfort zone and take risks on something I’m passionate about – traits essential to becoming a good leader. In the case of the Waka Family, they left their comfortable life in Canada and move to Fiji island as they believe in the potential utilization of Fiji’s natural resources for their business. Many people have the ideas to start something, but not all of them are courageous to take the first determining step.

Working in a group of like-minded people, I realized the significance of having the same vision and mission to reach the end goal as lacking these could result in lower commitments towards the project. An interesting takeaway I got from this group project is the dynamics of leadership in which everyone takes turns to be a leader at certain points of the project development. This allows us to be swift and take responsibility for the group when someone is not able to do so. Effective communication is also key to our project’s success in which we have a clear labor division, deadlines, and meetings to discuss our thoughts on the progress of the project.

All in all, this internship experience has equipped me not only with global citizen experiences but also skills as the future leader of the world. I hope that our project could be a stepping stone towards better mental health promotion in Fiji and I look forward to continuing my good work in future opportunities for a better tomorrow.