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Lauren Deakin is a Registered Nurse with a Masters in Public Health and Tropical Medicine. She volunteered at Viseisei Sai Health Centre from January 2017 to May 2018 as a Public Health Communications Mentor through Australian Volunteers International. Here is her personal reflection of her time spent volunteering at VSHC: My time spent at Viseisei Sai Health Centre is something I will never forget. When I began my contract in January 2017 I was warmly welcomed into the Viseisei project team, already 9 or so months into the EU funded… Read more >>

Eileen is a registered dietitian with a Master of Science in applied nutrition from Sage Graduate School in Troy, New York where she teaches as an adjunct instructor in the Nutrition Science Department. Eileen has also worked as a nutrition consultant for the New York State Department of Health and as a nutrition educator for low income New Yorkers. Here is her Personal Reflection - I came to Viseisei Sai Health Centre because of my interest in global health and medical anthropology. I am especially interested in the worldwide obesity… Read more >>

Lauren completed a Bachelor in Human Movement from University of Ballarat in 2004, and a Masters in Physiotherapy Studies from University of Queensland in 2009. She is currently completing a Masters in Public Health. Lauren has primarily worked in hospitals and community settings, including aged, remote and disability work.  Lauren has previously lived and volunteered for several years in Ghana and Kenya in community development and physiotherapy. She commenced at Viseisei Sai Health Centre in June 2017 as a Community Health Promotion Officer through AVI, where she will be based… Read more >>

Michelle graduated from the University of Waterloo in 2006 with a BSc in biological science and from there she went on to work in the pharmaceutical industry for several years. She then completed her Masters of Public Health degree at the University of Queensland in Brisbane in 2016 where she specialised in public health nutrition. Personal reflection - I learned a lot during my 6.5 weeks with VSHC. One of the biggest of all lessons I learned was the ability to become more fluid in terms of scheduling and plans,… Read more >>

A Personal Reflection by Veronica Cavallini. ‘From the moment you arrive in Fiji you will be struck by the natural beauty of the islands but equally moved by the genuine and kind-hearted Fijian people’ - these were the first couple of lines in my tourist guide and before landing I didn’t fully understand the meaning of these words. Today, after the weeks spent in Viseisei Sai Health Centre, I realized that what makes this place so special are the people who live here. The Health Team was very welcoming and… Read more >>

A Personal Reflection by Naina Singh. We four final year medical students came from University of California, Davis School of Medicine in Sacramento, a city that has a very high density of Fijians. We were very excited to come here and learn more about the culture and background. We hope to apply all that we've learned to our own local community. Given that I am Fijian of Indian Descent, this rotation meant especially more to me.   It has been incredibly humbling and enlightening to be a part of the team these past two months. I now have… Read more >>

Melissa Skerman and Danielle Cooper Melissa and Danielle are volunteer dietitians from Australia who will be joining the Viseisei Sai Health Centre team from August 2016.  Melissa graduated with a Master of Dietetics from the University of Queensland in 2016. Danielle graduated with a Master of Nutrition and Dietetics from the University of Sydney in 2013. Melissa and Danielle will be working alongside the Fiji Community Development Project Team and will provide one on one dietetic counselling to patients with NCD’s (diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure) in outreach and… Read more >>

Lauren joined VSHC in August 2015 for three months as a volunteer Nutritionist from Involvement Volunteers International and completed her time there on October 30th. Lauren graduated from a Bachelor of Science (Honours) majoring in nutrition in June 2015 and is currently enrolled at the University of Wollongong, Australia in a Doctor of Philosophy, Health Science. As a health advocate, Lauren has a passion for educating and empowering communities to assist in improving their overall health. As a new graduate Lauren has a keen interest to put into practice the… Read more >>

3/9/2015 – 5/10/2015 Jeffrey joined VSHC in September 2015 as a volunteer for a month through Involvement Volunteer International from Australia. He graduated with Master of Dietetics Studies from the University of Queensland in mid 2015 and decided to do some volunteer works in Fiji to gain more experience. He has been working with the team as a dietitian to give several nutritional talks in schools, villages and in women empowerment and community health workers workshops. He has also been providing one-to-one nutrition consultation to patients with NCDs (diabetes, high… Read more >>