Maria Tawake, a retired schoolteacher from Taveuni, has been named president of the Taveuni Empowerment Support Group (TEWSG), a community-led women’s collective credited with turning private pain into public leadership. Her elevation to the group’s top role is the latest sign of how grassroots women’s spaces in Fiji are fostering healing, resilience and new forms of local leadership, say those who work alongside them.
Tawake’s journey within TEWSG is emblematic of that transformation. After leaving the classroom and carrying the heavy burden of illness, she joined the group in a fragile state — physically cold and wrapped up, and emotionally guarded. Members say she came not to lead but to be held by the presence of other women. Over time, the daily solidarity, conversations and practical support contributed not only to physical recovery but to renewed confidence and a reclaimed sense of self. The woman who once arrived concealed and uncertain now chairs the group, leading with a compassion borne from lived struggle.
Those changes struck a chord with Kameli Tikoitoga, a Program Officer at Women’s Fund Fiji, who wrote of the importance of such women‑centred spaces based on personal and professional experience. Tikoitoga described TEWSG’s environment as a sanctuary where “women can arrive exactly as they are” — weak, uncertain or covered up — and still be embraced. She said that spaces like TEWSG do more than host meetings and activities: they restore dignity, break silence, and create pathways for survivors to become community leaders.
TEWSG, formed and run by women on Taveuni, provides a mix of collective dialogue, mutual care and community‑based activities designed to strengthen participants’ wellbeing, confidence and leadership. Group members facilitate conversations, offer emotional and practical assistance, and organise activities that centre women’s lived experiences. The result, supporters say, is a steady cultivation of resilience and local agency: women who once relied on the group for support are increasingly stepping into visible leadership roles.
The emergence of leaders such as Tawake at the grassroots mirrors national-level efforts to advance women’s rights. Fiji’s recent five‑year implementation plan under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) emphasises creating enabling environments and strengthening community-level responses. Development practitioners stress that formal plans and funding must be matched by safe, everyday spaces where women can share, recover and organise.
For Taveuni, the story matters beyond one island. It provides a practical example of how small, locally governed spaces feed into wider gender equality goals: by repairing harm through collective care, by nurturing confidence for public participation, and by producing leaders who understand community realities. As TEWSG’s new president, Maria Tawake now embodies that continuum — from survivor to steward of a space that helped her heal.
Supporters and local advocates say the next task is safeguarding and resourcing such groups so they can sustain the care and leadership they generate. In the meantime, Tawake’s appointment offers a concrete illustration of what women’s spaces can achieve when they are protected, valued and allowed to grow from the grassroots up.
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