Expanding the Healthy Lifestyle Project in Fiji

Ana, 42, is leading by example in her community, a 45-minute drive inland from Lautoka City.

As the Community Health Worker, a position she has held for the past five years, Ana had seen the need to introduce healthier programs to respond to the health threats in her community.

“After hearing of ADRA Fiji’s work being discussed by other Community Health Workers in the Western Division, I started approaching the team to give us an opportunity to have the program implemented in our area,” she said.

Since last year, ADRA Fiji had considered her request and started with the implementation of the Fiji Circular Economy for Healthy Lifestyle (FCEHL) project in the area with a population of 154. Funded by ADRA Australia, the project aims to promote a healthy environment and lifestyle to be able to respond to the risks of non-communicable diseases and other health threats through its Live More Abundantly (LMA) program.

With an aim to guide people living in rural areas on healthy lifestyles, one of its key target is to identify volunteers, facilitators, and health professionals and to conduct facilitators’ trainings on LMA. Ana is one of the LMA Facilitators in the Western Division.

According to Ana, they have seen a lot of improvement since the implementation of the project as members of the community now shift their focus towards healthy living. Apart from engaging in more physical activities such as home gardening, they are also conscious about their diet and have limited the consumption of unhealthy food such as processed food products with continuous training conducted.

“As the Community Health Worker, I’ve noticed the impact particularly in the number of sick cases reported. It is not like before where children are brought in sick or when adults come in asking for Panadol and this attributed to the change in lifestyle in their homes,” Ana said. “We have seen people losing weight and they have been come active because we are what we eat.”

Ana said nearly every households now have their own home garden because they have benefited immensely from it.

“Our children are now taking healthy lunches to school instead of the processed food we buy from the shop,” she said. “Personally, I have seen the changes in my lifestyle. I wake up early nowadays to prepare my children and I feel lighter compared to before, I used to force myself to wake up because of the heavy food we eat previously.”

After the completion of the 7-week program, Ana said many have opted to continue because they have seen the various benefits the program has brought about.

Members of the community, according to Ana, now have improved skills and knowledge in nutrition, dietary diversification, nutrition in emergencies, climate smart home gardening and traditional food preservation techniques.