FOR long, there have been negative connotations painted on wives of Fijian British Army personnel because of a few bad experiences that come to light through either social media or word of mouth.
This then blankets all of them in the United Kingdom with a negative stereotype.
Hence was the birth of Fijian In The UK, a digital space or blog which shares successful stories of Fijians particularly Fijian army wives, who are successful in the United Kingdom.
Founder and author Isabella Naiduki said the inspiration behind setting up this digital space came about her idea of wanting to change the narrative about how Fijian army wives tend to get portrayed.
“There seems to be a negative connotation to us,” Isabella explained.
“My blog gives my readers a different perspective on what life in the UK is like for a Fijian family.
“I share our experiences, my thoughts on parenting, education and sometimes the injustices that is faced by our Fijian community.
“I also share achievements by fellow Fijian women living here in the UK and just recently all over the world also.”
The Matacula, Tailevu native had moved to the UK in August of 2010 but had also lived and worked in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates since leaving Fiji.
Writing was something she had always had a passion for and one of the people who had a significant interest on her exploring this interest was her late paternal grandfather, Solomone Naiduki.
“He was what would be referred to by some as ‘Man of the Empire’.
“He was a retired army officer and also a teacher. He used to love speaking about a writing competition he won in his youth, bearing in mind this was during the colonial years, so for a man from the backwaters of Tailevu to be able to articulate his thoughts in written prose so eloquently at that time was not exactly a done thing.
“He also established a technical college in the part of Tailevu we are from so growing up I’ve always had him there in the background encouraging me to go above and beyond my own expectations.
“That you could say has always been the benchmark that really set the standard for me.”
Journaling and participating in writing competitions was also something of a pastime for Isabella in school but it was something she pushed aside because as we all know life has a way of prioritising other things.
It was late last year that she finally revived her writing and that was how her blog, Fijian In The UK, came to be.
Apart from their personal life experiences as a Fijian family living in the UK, she also writes about Fijian women of the world.
She said it was a way of providing a platform to recognise Fijian women living all over the world who are going above and beyond in their everyday lives, achieving phenomenal milestones.
Some of the women, she shared, were nominated by friends and family who reached out to her via her blog.
Others are those that she read about or follow on social media.
“It’s been such an uplifting experience for me personally, writing about these women and as one of my features so aptly said, we are cut from the cloth of warriors so it is only natural that we should go out and conquer our dreams, whatever they may be,” Isabella said.
