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By: by ASHNA KUMAR, Suva | Fiji Sun Online | 1 June 2018
A 23-year-old is making big waves in curriculum development for the disadvantaged communities in the country.
Temesia Tuicaumia of Makadru, Matuku, in Lau was living in Honolulu, Hawaii for the most part of his life.
But the urge to help disadvantaged children get access to education was borne out of his family-run Child Benefit Fiji.
That’s when he decided to make a decision and move to Fiji in 2015 to help run the non-profit organisation.
Child Benefit Fiji provides service called Mobile Kindy Fiji providing what it says is high quality education and care to the disadvantaged community.
Mr Tuicaumia is a teacher training for Fiji and the Pacific and curriculum supervisor for Child Benefit Fiji.
He works with other non-governmental organisations, Government ministries on advocacy for early childhood education and development through media, social media platforms, technology and arts.
But before this all started, his mother, Analesi Tuicaumia, founded her Little Ones and Mobile Kindy in 1993.
Ten years ago she wanted more than running just a school that was providing education to communities that could afford education for early childhood.
Hence the Child Benefit Fiji was born.
“In 2009, she became a global leader for Fiji with the World Forum Foundation for Early care and Education and founded her community advocacy project Kindy at the Park,” Mr Tuicaumia said.
“From her data collection she realized children from five years and below were not attending school so Mobile Kindy Fiji was introduced.
“Today my mother, who is the director and father Bai Tuicaumia is the manager, aunt Torika Delailoa is the assistant director and financial controller and I Curriculum supervisor founded our non-profit organization Child Benefit Fiji.
He said we as a nation wanted to see change and this was where it begins.
“We need to invest, nurture these children, the only way we will move forward is to see the next generation fully equipped socially, emotionally, physically and cognitively ready,” Mr Tuicaumia said.
Edited by Ranoba Baoa
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