Integritus Prime

While I am in Fiji, I want to interview intrepid female leaders. It’s an important time to highlight female empowerment – right? Well, it always is, but some leaders just make you stop and go: woahhhh. So today I’m highlighting Sashi Kiran, who is one of those leaders: a woman who saw what was needed in a time of chaos, and went ahead to create an integrated and successful organization to meet those needs. Watch the recording of the powerful live interview, which gives a sense of the true courage of this amazing woman and leader.

Sashi Kiran is the founder of FRIEND Fiji, an award-winning organization whose vision is of Fiji as a sustainable community where resources are connected to opportunities, and everyone takes ownership of and responsibility for their own self-development. Let’s see how this vision came to be…

Marilyn: Hi Sashi – you are the Executive Director of the nonprofit/NGO, FRIEND Fiji – tell us about how you got here, why you started FRIEND, and what does FRIEND stand for?

Sashi: FRIEND was started post-2000 when we had civil unrest. As I travelled around, watching the despair and violence at the time, it was obvious there was urgent need for a platform for economic empowerment; a platform where we could slowly begin to mend and deepen our relationships in this country.

Foundation for Rural Integrated Enterprises & Development (FRIEND) – works through socioeconomic and health empowerment programs towards poverty alleviation. We focus on organics; health, for example diabetes; and I’m also worried about suicide stats in the country. We also do disaster relief and recovery. We have a YouTube channel that shows the range of work we do. From agriculture to food preservation, sustainable livelihoods to health, we’re working on it.

Marilyn: One thing that really attracts me to FRIEND is your integrated approach. I also work with all the interconnections between climate change and diet, and social justice, for example. Could you tell us a bit about your integrated approach to community development? 

Sashi: Nothing works in isolation – we are totally integrated beings – so unless we look at social challenges, economic issues, health and environment, together as a system, anything we do remains unsustainable.

Marilyn: I couldn’t agree more! What programs do you run? Give us a couple of examples please. 

Sashi: We do social empowerment, financial literacy including budgeting, opening of accounts, setting up of income generation with all the training and capacity building. We have good governance to build community organizations, and health programming – promoting back yard gardening, exercise programs and we run clinics, and do disaster relief and recovery.

Marilyn: It’s very clear these are all interrelated. I love that you’re doing so much together to empower organizations and especially women who are at the forefront of your products. What’s next for you?

Sashi: We are doing awareness on organics/cancers/diabetes and mental health. And, further developing farm to table – organic food chain- developing Tukuni, our solar-powered, recycling-friendly restaurant for glamorizing local good foods to beat non-communicable diseases (NCDs), and developing a value chain for healthy foods.

Marilyn: This is all so impressive! What assistance are you seeking right now?

Sashi: We are looking for medical screening and testing equipment, and consumables (single-use items).

And there you have it. A powerful example of how crisis can spur holistic, and powerful solutions through a vision that manifests into a community-wide effort. The secret is integration, and going after the whole system, not just one part. Congratulations to Sashi Kiran for her pioneering work. If you’d like to help FRIEND Fiji, contact them.

Feel free to comment on this interview, ask questions, and if you have ideas for others I should interview, let me know.

A woman who saw chaos and decided to create solutions, going on to lead the award-winning FRIEND Fiji.