Join efforts to increase awareness and understanding of mental health in a rural Fijian village where you will live for 3½ weeks. The aim is training and equipping local Fijian youth with the tools to be ambassadors for mental health awareness, understanding, and support in the community. Working as a team with other students, you will prepare activities for a local youth group designed to promote learning, understanding, and long-term action that build positive mental health.
Participants in this program will gain a set of experiences, understanding, and transferable skills through:
- 120+ hours of hands-on mental health promotion work experience
- Attending training & workshops with the leading Mental Health Experts in Fiji
- Creating awareness and advocacy around mental health, discussing stigmas and misinformation, and opening up conversations about positive mental health through teaching workshops and planning activities
- Expanding understanding of global mental health and cultural perceptions
- Contributing to sustainable impact projects in rural villages in accordance with the Fiji National Development Plan
- Helping Fijian partners (Ministry of Health and leading mental health NGOs) transform the mental health landscape in Fiji
- Experiencing culture & customs of a traditional Fijian village, and learning from local people
- Experiences that develop team work, communication, and leadership skills
The highlight of the program is the cultural immersion of living with a Fijian family in the heart of a traditional village. This requires you to expand your comfort zone and embrace a very basic way of life, without many of the known comforts that you are accustomed. You will experience the daily life of rural Fijians including the intricacies of Fijian communal, subsistence life and the importance of chiefly structures and age-old customs. Students return with increased resourcefulness, resilience, and more understanding of global development issues. This program is in partnership with Think Pacific. Students will join other BYU students as well as university students from the United Kingdom in this team experience. Learn more about this program at www.byuglobalhealth.org
DATES
This program will run for four weeks during Summer Term from 29 June until 27 July 2021. Students will be in Fiji for four weeks. Students will be required to complete academic assignments prior to this time and upon returning home from the program.
HOUSING
Homestay with a Fijian village family. During the briefing/orientation and reflection days of the program you will be housed in a beach resort. All meals while staying with your family and breakfast and evening meals during your briefing/reflection days at the resort will be provided.
COURSES
Students in the program Summer Term are required to take a minimum of six credits from this list of courses: HLTH 496R, IAS 399, LFSCI 199, HLTH 403, HLTH 481, HLTH 492, or HLTH 491R. Graduate credit for MPH fieldwork is available.
ELECTIVE
Students may be interested in investigating the local culture by taking IAS 380 Cultural Proofs for 1–3 credit hours. This self-guided course allows students to do independent intercultural research, interview locals, and experience local culture.
COST
$2,700-3,200
This cost includes undergraduate tuition for six credits Summer Term, international health insurance coverage, housing, meals during homestay, breakfast and dinner during stay at resort, airport pickup on arrival, orientation, onsite coordination, 24 hour emergency assistance, local transportation, and $250 Think Pacific registration fee. Does not include international airfare, passport, visa(s), personal expenses, extra meals and snacks, cell phones/international data, or personal excursions.
TRAVEL
Students are responsible for purchasing their own airfare to and from the program. Airfare reservations must be made through BYU Travel. Students should contact a BYU Travel agent at:
BYU Travel | 801-422-6293 | travel@byu.edu | 280 HRCB
PREPARATION
Students from many majors are encouraged to apply, particularly those with interests and background in mental health. Accepted students are required to participate in an international preparation course (IAS 369R, 1 credit hour). This second-block evening course will be held during winter semester. Accompanying spouses need to be credit-bearing participants on the program. Spouses will also need to apply online and take the preparation course.
FUNDING SOURCES
Regular BYU tuition scholarships, Pell Grants, and Federal Insured Student Loans may be applied to study abroad programs. Academic departments and colleges may assist with scholarships and grants. Private grants and scholarships outside of BYU may also assist (see kennedy.byu.edu/scholarships).
APPLICATION PROCESS
Students must be adults 18 years-of-age or older. Priority Deadline: 1 December 2020. Applications will remain open until program is filled. If spots remain open, the final deadline is anticipated to be 1 February 2021. Complete the online application at kennedy.byu.edu/apply. The application requires a $35 fee. Applicants will be interviewed once the application is complete. Students will be notified via email of their acceptance into the program. Students will also be required to complete an enrollment or application with Think Pacific and a police background check may be required. The first payment is due upon acceptance. Please refer to the 2021 Payment Information document (see kennedy.byu.edu/isp-forms/ISPpayments2021.pdf).
Priority Deadline: 1 December 2020
FACULTY
Randy M Page, Director of the Global Health Internship Program and Professor of Public Health is the faculty director for the program. Tana Page, Adjunct Faculty in the Department of Public Health, will be the Assistant Director.
SCHEDULE AND TIME COMMITMENT
Students will be in Thailand for approximately four weeks. Students will be required to complete academic assignments prior to this time and upon returning home from the program.
INTERESTED STUDENTS SHOULD CONTACT
International Study Programs
101 HRCB
(801) 422-3686
isp@byu.edu
kennedy.byu.edu/isp
Dr. Randy M Page
2030 Life Science Building
randy_page@byu.edu
Tana S. Page
2148 Life Science Building
tana_page@byu.edu
PROGRAM ADJUSTMENTS
International Study Programs (ISP) reserves the right to cancel this program, revise its offerings, or make any adjustments to the preliminary cost. If it becomes necessary for ISP to cancel a program, all program payments made to BYU ISP will be refunded to the student’s BYU financial account. ISP is the only office authorized to cancel any of its programs.
