A lesson implanted in him by his mother, Epeli Lesuma’s commitment to humanitarian work remains strong since he first joined Fiji Red Cross Society in 2014 at the age of 21 years old.
The Somosomo native from Taveuni with maternal ties to Bau, rose through the rank of the society to become chair of its Youth Commission and Red Cross Pacific Youth Network looking after 14 island countries. In 2014 Lesuma decided to join his mother who joined a year before as the society’s programer including his sister and brother who later followed in their mother’s footstep.
“My mother, Sala Toganivalu had initially worked in New Zealand where we were brought up marketing Fiji as a tourism destination and her ethos has always about giving back to the country something that she had always stressed in us her children,” he said. “After joining FRCS she had pushed us to join too and play active roles in contributing back to our communities.
“Through my work with FRCS something that I realised was how most of the youths who made the bulk of the society were initially introduced to it by their own parents, so it was more like a family thing which was true for us and those here in Fiji and the Pacific. “For youths in Fiji and the Pacific this was the common thread that many of our international counterparts failed to understand.
“All in all the spirit of these youths and their passion in working voluntarily for the good of others is something that has driven me to do this work.”
Since most of these youths had not completed formal education nor worked in the formal sector, Lesuma said there was a capacity gap that existed and the youths were not able to articulate them best. Being brought up in an English speaking family, Lesuma said this gap drove him to learn his culture and language so that he could communicate effectively with the volunteers.
In 2015 Lesuma graduated from the University of the South Pacific and started work with the Fiji Higher Education Commission which was situated beneath the FRCS office at Gorrie St, Suva.
He laughed as he shared that God worked in a mysterious way as he would join volunteers at the FRCS car park to do volunteer work after work every day.
“I was blessed with the support from home which sadly many of our volunteers did not have since they were often questioned about the worth of their volunteer work.
“However work at FRCS has changed my view altogether of volunteer work as it could be a career for students and two people which have proven these are lawyer Wylie Clark who worked as a volunteer, served in the board and became the first Pacific Islander to serve in the governing board of Red Cross red cross in Turkey.
“The other person is Sevuloni Ratu who begun as a volunteer too and rose within the ranks of FRCS to now sit as International Federation of Red Cross “This week (last week) when the pictures came from COP26 showing him sitting across from the Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama discussing at a meeting, I was so inspired and this is the message I can take to our young volunteers.
“I encourage parents to motivate their children to do humanitarian work instead of being idle at home because an idle mind is the devil’s playfield as they say.” While his term had ended at FRCS, Mr Lesuma said it was not the end of his involvement with humanitarian work adding it was something that he did out of the goodness of his heart.
Working through the devastations of TC Winston, TC Harold and TC Ana, Mr Lesuma said the tireless effort of volunteers has shown through these hardest of times as young people turned up at their doorstep willing to help their countrymen.
He described the experience as humbling adding it made him believe in the goodness of humanity.
“The Fijian spirit of giving is just commendable and something that is common in all of us as Pacific Islanders resonating through countries in the world that we have come to call home.
“Through our street appeal work which has been vastly affected by COVID-19 we would see how pole whom we least expected to donate would reach into their pockets and draw whatever money they had to give. While those that looked better off were often reluctant it was vendors and farmers that gave without question.
“I believe this is the Fijian experience that makes Fiji what it is.”
Lesuma ends his term as chair of the FRCS Youth Commission and Red Cross Pacifi c Youth Network this year adding that he worked from his role being a rich man for the many wonderful experiences he had come across.
