Retired New Zealand nurse Alison, who first travelled to Fiji with the Golden Oldies Mission in 2017, says nearly a decade of outreach work has deepened her commitment to tackling long-standing public health challenges in the islands. Introduced to the faith-based volunteer group about ten years ago, Alison has returned several times and now urges a combination of practical community projects and attention to spiritual wellbeing as keys to improving life in rural and urban communities alike.
Alison’s own life story began in rural New Zealand, where she grew up riding a horse to school and learned caregiving early after her mother fell ill. She paused her schooling to look after the family before later completing nursing training and working across New Zealand in settings from small clinics to busy operating theatres — continuing well beyond the typical retirement age. “Although I had reached a pause, I was able to continue learning,” she reflected, noting technological and workplace changes in nursing during her long career.
Her fieldwork in Fiji over the past decade has highlighted three interlinked problems: poverty, rapid urbanisation and limited infrastructure. “Cities are expanding, but roads and housing are struggling to keep up with healthy standards,” Alison said. She pointed to what may seem a small detail but has broad health implications — many homes lack gutters, so despite frequent rainfall residents often have no reliable access to clean stored water.
Food security is another concern she flagged, particularly dwindling access to protein. “Fish used to be easily accessible, but now it’s not as abundant. Women may even need a boat to catch fish,” she said, describing how changing resources and lifestyles are making traditional food sources less reliable for some communities.
Alison has backed community-driven responses, including mud-brick housing projects designed to improve living conditions. Such initiatives, she said, couple low-cost building techniques with local labour and skill-sharing. She also stressed that basic trades training — carpentry and plumbing among them — can be transformative. “Basic skills like carpentry and plumbing can make a big difference,” she said, urging more emphasis on vocational training to boost self-reliance and improve household health standards.
Beyond physical needs, Alison pointed to the central role of faith and spiritual wellbeing in Fijian life. “Faith is very visible in Fiji — it’s part of everyday life,” she said, arguing that the mission’s approach must be holistic. “It is important to look after your heart, mind, body, and spirit,” she added, urging young Fijians to prioritise their health and be mindful of lifestyle choices associated with urban living, such as dietary shifts toward processed foods.
Her visits have brought her into close contact with village life — a photograph supplied by the Golden Oldies Mission shows Alison dancing with a child in Nukui, Rewa — and reinforced her view that practical, culturally aware solutions are needed. With a decade of hands-on engagement, Alison is calling for combined efforts: infrastructure improvements, food security measures, skills training and support for spiritual resilience, as the most effective route to lasting health improvements in Fiji.
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