ADC recently delivered its flagship Mediation course in Fiji. Trainers Sarah Blake and Prof Laurence Boulle embarked on the exciting opportunity with participants representing the diversity of the island nation and one student who travelled from Perth, WA for the course.

From a training perspective, it was exciting to observe participants developing a deeper understanding of mediation, the process and skills required. Over the course of the week there was a substantial improvement in participants’ capacity to facilitate the mediation process with clarity of purpose.

Participant’s engagement in discussions of theory and the questions raised demonstrated an emerging confidence in their knowledge and an ability to contextualize mediation for the Fijian landscape. As a group we were able to explore and embrace language and culture differences in a way that has fostered great learning for future courses.

Some of the great moments from the course included the exploration of the language of mediation from English, traditional Fijian and Hindu perspectives. We were also privileged to have one of the students perform the opening statement in Fijian – demonstrating great confidence and knowledge of both role and responsibilities of the mediator.

Everyone did really well, and met the accreditation requirements for the Australian National Mediator Accreditation System and without a doubt, we as trainers have been privileged to have learnt much from the participants. ADC is excited to be supporting and nurturing the emerging field of Mediation in Fiji. Certainly, as trainers we are excited to see what’s next for Fiji.

A special thanks to Alan Ogg and Deborah Lockhart for assistance with coaching.

Ms Sarah Blake & Prof Laurence Boulle
ADC Trainers