Pacific Youth Festival includes disabled person from Fiji

From the Fiji Daily Post:

For young Sainimili Naivalui, disability is not going to stop her from being part of the 2009 Pacific Youths Festival (PYF) in Fiji.

The 24-year-old who is the treasurer of the Fiji Disabled Peoples Association says she is glad to be part of the youth festival.

“I am glad to be part of this Pacific Youth Festival despite of being a disabled person and my disability would not stop me from being a participant, especially with the host country Fiji”.

“Being a Fijian, I am proud to be a participant because this moment will help me learn a lot, about the many different cultures which are going to be displayed by the participating Pacific Island Countries”.

The 24-year-old who is part of the Fiji delegation was assisted by her colleagues on a wheel chair, riding down from the flair market to the Albert park, where the official opening was hosted.

When asked about what she would want the festival’s outcome to be, Naivalui said that youths can do anything despite of what people may think about them.

“Although I am disabled, I still participate in this festival because it would help me to share and at the same time feel the bond that this festival creates, especially between all participating youths of the pacific”.

“I would like to say that for Pacific youths, there is nothing impossible because we must know that we are the leaders of tomorrow and that we can do anything despite of circumstances that we may face”.

Meanwhile, the weeklong festival which opens today will continue on tomorrow at the University of the South Pacific (USP).

A Sunday Church service will be held for all the participating Pacific Island Countries at the Vodafone Arena, in Laucala Bay.