Twenty-five Fijians are among the first in the world to possess the knowledge of building and sailing traditional craft.
The youths from the island of Beqa are now equipped with the knowledge of their ancestors who voyaged their way across the Pacific.
They were part of the Beqa Island Community Training on Traditional Canoe Building and Sailing to equip themselves to become better custodians of the Pacific Ocean as well as provide them with sustainable means of caring for their families in these difficult times.
The training was a joint partnership between the University of the South Pacific (USP), under the Pacific-European Union (EU) Marine Partnership (PEUMP) program, and the Uto Ni Yalo Trust. Five women were among the 25 participants who received their certificates at Rukua Village, Beqa.
At the award ceremony, Sujiro Seam, ambassador of the European Union to Fiji and the Pacific, said: “The Pacific-European Union Marine Partnership recognises that the small island states of the Pacific are big ocean States.”
