We at Dive The World are keen to promote diving operators that offer a high quality service to their guests but those that go the extra mile deserve special credit. Read below about the valuable contributions the Tui Tai is making to the lives of ordinary Fijians…

Tui Tai and her guests sponsor students in remote island villages

CONTRIBUTIONISM: Adopt a student, provide education assistance and create relationships.

TUI TAI CHARITABLE FUND

Because Tui Tai regularly visits remote islands not frequented by any other ships, the company recognized that it could offer important assistance and contributions to the well-being of villagers living far from population centers. The Tui Tai Charitable Fund was established because our passengers wanted to make contributions to assist people they’d seen during their visits.

TUI TAI SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM

Many of Tui Tai’s past guests have indicated an interest in assisting kids from villages they visited during the cruise. Specifically, past guests have made donations towards educational programs. The Tui Tai Scholarship Program allows you to adopt a student and follow their progress through school. Your donation goes directly to paying that student’s school fees, school uniforms, transportation, room and board. The student, by accepting the scholarship, promises to write at least 6 letters per year that will be mailed or emailed to you, with updates on how they are doing in school, favorite subjects, highlights and awards.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

Tui Tai has already identified students from the villages visited during the adventure cruise. When you decide to make a Tui Tai Scholarship, you have the option of meeting your student/beneficiary in person. You can meet the student and his/her family during your visit to that village.

Based on the education level and needs of the student, your donation will be calculated (see examples below). At the end of a year, you can decide to continue your scholarship with another donation.

EXAMPLES OF TUI TAI SCHOLARSHIPS

Class 1-8 Scholarship
1-year Donation: 600 Fijian Dollars
Includes all tuition/school fees, school uniforms, books and supplies for one student for one year. Class 1-8 students are typically 6-13 years old. In the outer islands, this is a time to get a solid foundation for further education. Your sponsored student will write a letter every 2 months to share their progress with you.

Form 1-6 Scholarship
1-year Donation: 900 Fijian Dollars
Includes all tuition/school fees, school uniforms, books and supplies for one student for one year. Form 1-6 students are typically 11-17 years old. In the outer islands, this is a critical period where children often have to “commute” to another island in order to further their education. Your sponsored student will write a letter every 2 months to share their progress with you.

Form 7 Scholarship
1-year Donation: 1200 Fijian Dollars
Includes tuition/school fees, school uniforms, daily bus transfers, 2 transfers from home village to Savusavu, daily lunches, books and supplies for one student for one year. Form 7 students are typically 16-18 years old, this is the final year of school prior to university. Form 7 education is perhaps the most elusive for students in remote parts of Fiji, generally constrained by the cost. Form 7 is a stepping stone for students to make their way into higher education including universities and technical schools. Your sponsored student will write a letter every 2 months to share their progress with you.

INSTEAD OF ACTIVITIES, WE FACILITATE ACTIVISM

Our guests have assisted on Humanitarian trips that brought doctors to remote islanders who hadn’t ever been treated by a doctor. Guests went along on the eight-island Humanitarian tour by Jazmin Grace Grimaldi, daughter of Monaco’s Prince Albert. That 2006 tour led to a new water collection system and storage tanks for a tiny village called Yanuca, classroom chairs and tables for a school in Rabi where students had been sitting on the floor, and 18,000 doses of pre-natal vitamins provided to a hospital that had none.

Other guests joined rock star Alanis Morissette on a humanitarian trip to a remote island damaged by a rare cyclone. Morissette’s trip brought emergency supplies such as food and drinking water; and also wheelchairs. The 2007 trip uplifted spirits by delivering Christmas toys for the kids, guitars and musical instruments for everyone.

Many people who have enjoyed success in business come to ask how they can give something back to the world. Tui Tai is grateful to be able to facilitate the experience of direct giving, while also helping people seeing the world’s most beautiful places, and most beautiful faces.

Tui Tai guests see amazing sites; they still enjoy great luxury and exciting adventures – only now, they leave behind something more than a few dollars, and they take home something more than a few photos.

For more information on diving in Fiji, see our website: Diving In Fiji

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