The delegation of the European Union for the Pacific extended a warm invitation to The University of Fiji to take part in the second Europa Shield Fiji Inter-University Debate 2011.  The debate was held for two days 31st August –1st September from 4.30 – 9.30pm in the Pasifika Auditorium at the FNU Pasifika Campus. UniFiji did not take part in the inaugural inter-university debate competition last year.

Each of the three universities in Fiji was represented by two teams. The University of Fiji Team 1 was led by Ms. Elesi Nailati, and included Mr. Isoa Tikoca and Ms. Rinika Prakash, while The University of Fiji Team 2 comprised of Mr. Usaia Draunimasi as team captain, Mr. Wilikinisoni Tuisawau, Ms. Ana Mataitini and the wonder boy Mr. Eroni Nawalu.

Ms Hettal Ben, Administrative Assistant in the Registrar’s Office, accompanied the debating teams to Suva for the competition and earlier for the training workshop for all university teams. Hettal was also responsible for ensuring that there were no hitches in the administrative arrangements for the University’s participation in the debating competition.

The topics for each team were picked from a hat the day before the competition.   The team captains were informed ten minutes before the debate whether their team would speak for or against the topic. There were six matches on the first night; each team had two matches. Some of the themes for this year were: Gender, Climate Change, Trade, Regional Integration, Domestic Violence, and Individual rights, HIV/AIDS, Disabilities, Child Labour and Biodiversity.

The two University of Fiji teams worked together and were united in their desire to bring credit to the University; they shared information and supported each other. They faced many challenges. Preparation time was short.  Two members of the teams initially selected had to be dropped because of eligibility rules of the competition, something we were informed of after our teams had been selected. Their replacements had to be found within a couple of days of the competition. One other member of the team also withdrew a few days before the tournament. A replacement for her had also to be found. Some of the students who were approached to take her place refused.  None of our student debaters had taken part in competitive debating before.  

Hettal summed up the optimism of our student debaters: “Despite so many problems, we believed in ourselves. We were motivated by the knowledge that we could do it.  And we did it. We got to the finals.”

In the finals, The University of Fiji team lost to Fiji National University. The University of Fiji had beaten The University of the South Pacific in the semi-final.

Credit must go to Hettal who did a wonderful job organising the teams at Saweni and then looking after and helping the students in Suva, and to our great debaters Elesi, Isoa, Rinika, Usaia, Wilikinisoni, Ana, and Eroni for their dedication, hard work, enthusiasm, comradeship. They had sleepless nights in the lead up to the debates.

Their hard work paid off handsomely in the end, for themselves individually and the University.

Our debating teams did very well on another front. They were exemplary ambassadors for the University. They gave the University plenty of free publicity. They were on the news daily for the four days they were in Suva – in the newspapers and on television. They won much praise for their behaviour from the organisers of debates. Two of our students, Elesi and Usaia were sought out by Mr Netaini Rika, former editor of The Fiji Times, to help him with a project on youths he is working on.

On their last day in Suva our students visited to thank the people who helped them in their preparation for the debate: staff of the Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre, UNICEF, FIJI TV, and the European Union.