Paying it Forward – Message of Kindness & Making a Difference!

Giving out food and gift bags for the local village in Fiji coral coast​​The impact a random act of kindness can have on a community!My friend and I recently went to Fiji and decided as part of our trip to take gift bags for the children in the local villages. We had no idea how we would give these gifts out, but we decided to take the gifts to the children on my friend’s actual birthday the day after we arrived. We filled sandwich bags with pencils, notepads, tissues, sticky tape, cookies and a postcard from my company TaylorCare Recruitment. We also bought old shoes to give out to locals who often walk for miles every day without shoes.When we first arrived at the local town not far from our hotel, we noticed stalls owned by the local people selling fruit & vegetables they had grown. To say the least, I found it a little overwhelming at first to see such a contrast with the poverty and standards of living of these people and feeling unsure how to help or even if we could make a difference. My friend suggested we buy as many fruit & vegetables as we could with $25 Fiji dollars and take it to the children in the village when we hand out the gift bags. She bought veggies from several market stands and purposefully picked the stands where most people would not normally pick from to help out the most in need market stand owners. Before we left, they all expressed such gratefulness in us helping them.When we left, we asked our cab driver to stop via a village on our way back to the resort so we could bless the people in the village with our gifts and food. We gave out the 3 shopping bags of fresh veggies and 15 gift bags for the children. They were so grateful and thanked us for our generosity. Once we got back from our trip to the local village, my friend was on a mission to hand out shoes so she asked the cleaners in our resort if they had the same size shoe as her. Two out of the three cleaners had the same shoe size, so my friend offered them new shoes. They were so excited! Then at the pool, my friend decided to ask the lady at the cocktail bar if she needed new shoes. Her face lit up and was so excited to receive a pair of new shoes.It amazed me the impact that a random act of kindness had on the Fijian people, just by giving such a simple gift. We probably spent $50 AUD in total on gift bags and fresh vegetables yet these people were so grateful! It really goes to show how such a small amount of money to me can make the world of difference to a village and the local community to those in need. I think it puts life into perspective and made me realise the impact we had on those in need from our random acts of kindness.I challenge you next time you decide to travel to be open to random acts of kindness you could do for someone else. A simple act of kindness can make the world of difference to someone.