Change for good
By Atasa Moceituba
The Fiji Times, Tuesday, July 15, 2014
CHANGE is something we all need when it's for our benefit.
And with few weeks left for this year's Vodafone Fiji Hibiscus Festival, Nanise Rainima believes she can use this year's mother of all festivals to address changes that greatly affects people's lives.
Sponsored by APCO Coatings the 22-year-old outspoken lass from Nakelo, Tailevu, said she hoped to become an ambassador for change and to be involved in changes to improve people's lives.
Ms Rainima said being a contestant was an eye-opener.
To her the Hibiscus was about rides, foods and spending time with family.
Little did she know she would end up playing a vital role at a week-long festival.
Ready for the challenge
By Dawn Gibson
The Fiji Times, Saturday, July 12, 2014
ATTRACTED by the Vodafone Fiji Hibiscus 2014 Festival's theme of climate change, 23-year-old Neetika Sahai says she is ready to take on the challenges this year's contest will bring.
In an interview, the determined young woman said having just completed her Bachelor of Science degree at the University of the South Pacific, she was hopeful the knowledge gained through the course had equipped her well for this climate-themed national event.
"This theme is a very important one for me because it discusses important environmental activities and how climate change affects people's livelihoods, especially here in the Pacific," Ms Sahai said.
Lives under threat
By Atasa Moceituba
The Friday, July 18, 2014
THE lives of the villagers of Buretu in Tailevu are under threat because of the effects of climate change.
Abundant harvests from their farms are a distant memory for them, their dreams and hopes of sustaining themselves shattered, leaving the villagers to buy food from neighbouring villages as they struggle to provide and put food on the table.
During the visit by the queens to the village they were overwhelmed to see how badly the lives of the people were affected by climate change.
Contestant raises funds
By Dawn Gibson
The Fiji Times, Sunday, July 20, 2014
VODAFONE Fiji Hibiscus queen contestant Miss Carpenters Fiji, Neetika Sahai yesterday morning hosted her first charity drive
at the My Suva Picnic Park in Nasese.
The drive, which hosted large crowds of people to a morning of beach and waterfront clean-ups, allowed the contestant the opportunity to raise funds to be given towards charity, post-Hibiscus.
Ms Sahai said the turnout was encouraging and the support she received from fellow contestants, colleagues, family members and friends at the work-a-thon was overwhelming.
