Word: fiji
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...torn land half a world away. The companies helping to pacify and rebuild Iraq need workers, and Fijians need work: there are four school leavers for every available job. When British firm Global Risk opened an office in Suva 18 months ago, it was looking for ex-soldiers. Fiji has plenty. They're well trained and, all too often, unemployed. And they lined up by the score to apply. So far, Global Risk has sent more than 1,000 men to Iraq. Three have been killed there, and one badly injured. But local director Sakiusa Raivoce says his recruits know...
...People are now a more valuable export for Fiji than sugar or clothing - and both those industries are in decline. The sums migrant workers send home have surged by 28% in two years, to $179 million, Waqa says. Half of that total now comes from Iraq - "and it's growing." The effects can be seen all over Fiji, as corrugated-iron huts give way to concrete houses, often with new cars outside. Cinavilakeba and his wife Ceriana put a deposit on a house before their wedding. "His job will help us pay for it," she says. Fijian soldiers have been...
...ingrown toenails as a result of wearing inappropriate shoes. More than 50% of U.S. women are limping around with a bunion--a bony bump at the joint of the big toe. Compare that with a rate of less than 10% for men and 5% among unshod populations like Fiji Islanders. "There's nothing wrong with the human foot," says Frey. "It does not need shoes. It doesn't want shoes. The only reason we have to wear shoes is to protect ourselves from our environment...
...Australia and New Zealand now spend tens of millions of dollars a year to help small island states tackle corruption, tighten border controls and train law-enforcement officers. Police and customs agents from both countries played key roles in investigating the Fiji ice lab, and cleaning it up. Australia and New Zealand are also helping small states update their antiquated laws. Police had to wait 14 months to smash the ice gang because Fijian law does not ban methamphetamine's ingredients, only the finished product. A new drug bill?increasing the top sentence for trafficking from eight years to life...
...South Pacific isn't out of danger, says police chief Hughes, but "I think we have sent a strong message that Fiji is not as vulnerable as people thought." Suva businessman Tauz Khan, whose security-equipment and taxi companies are in the same industrial park as the drug warehouse, hopes he's right. The fight against drugs must succeed, he says: "We don't want these guys to come back here and spoil our paradise...