Everywhere we travelled we saw Fijian flags attached to cars, people walking with flags, horns totting, and the ‘Bula Fiji Gold’ phrase continually spoken.

Students and Golden Oldies gather together

Basden College continues to provide second-chance education to young adults with excellent results. It was wonderful to hear that the 45 pairs of running shoes donated through Golden Oldies and supporters in Christchurch and New Plymouth allowed students to attend their first ever National Athletic championships, with 8 making the finals. Now all these shoes are being worn by the girls for the National Netball Championships!

The Golden Oldies toilets now have a beautiful mural

The evening saw a visit to a village where Golden Oldies had partnered to build a new toilet block several years ago, now has a new mural! The evening included singing and dancing.

Sana receives a traditional Fijian necklace

The village have a number of micro-business plans to help their people further, and we talked with the m about their dreams. One of our short term mission goals is to partner with churches, villages and mission projects to build the Kingdom of God. This village and others are discussing the business ideas and this coming week a Small Business Workshop is being run with business start-up funding being made available to help develop their ideas.

Village youth sang and danced with the team