As a group, we bonded well and completed all team objectives. We successfully built a health clinic (in association with the Fijian Ministry for Health and Medical Services) which will increase access to primary healthcare for the rural community and those surrounding it, and we participated in enlightening workshops (facilitated by Alliance for Future Generations, Fiji) on the topic of climate change, which was part of our goal of achieving youth empowerment for the community. All of this was contributing to the achievement of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals and Fiji's National Development Plan. I achieved personal leadership goals which I am very pleased about. I am grateful to the other members of the team, the community we were living and working with, ThinkPacific, and the Laidlaw Scholars Program for the opportunity to test my leadership skills and to reflect on what is most important to me in any future career and more generally in life. 

It is hard, in a brief post such as this, to sum up the amazing experience that I had living in Toga Village. I can, however, display some images of my time on my LiA project. Building on what I learned last summer (through my research project), I have learned a lot about leadership as part of a team, the importance of cultural intelligence for effective leadership in a globalising world, and the dynamics of international development at a grassroots level (and more!). Feel free to have a look at some of my photos.

Thank you again to all those involved in making my experience so unique and memorable, especially to my Fijian family. Vinaka vaka levu. 

Oran O'Neill, University of Leeds