"We run over a dozen study abroad programs all over the world, and this is by far the most immersive, transformational experience for our students."
Dr. Kate Thornton
Auburn University
Since 2013
we’ve hosted compelling, challenging study abroad trips for university students spanning a wide range of backgrounds and majors.
What Makes Us Unique?
Functionality You Will Love
01
The Unique Host
Vorovoro is not just any Fijian island. It’s deeply sacred to the local Mali people, and for good reason. Vorovoro is the ancestral seat of their tribe and is the home of Tui Mali, their revered chief, who is our host and welcomes us to his island.
​
03
The Cultural Immersion
Tui Mali keeps trips infrequent and group sizes small so as to “tread lightly” on Vorovoro's natural environment and deep traditions. Thus, when you step foot on Vorovoro, you are not greeted by polished, blasé hospitality professionals, but instead by farmers and carpenters, members of the Mali tribe, truly excited to share this special time with you.
02
The Remote Location
Vorovoro is far off the tourist path and is used as a gathering place for the Mali people to this day. The private island also offers four volcanic peaks, untouched beaches, and unparalleled access to the Cakaulevu Reef, the third-longest barrier reef in the world.
​
04
The Comprehensive Program
As if living on a private island in the South Pacific with a Fijian tribe wasn't unique enough, we also provide a wide variety of activities for our students off the island: working on a permaculture farm, a homestay in another village, an overnight tour of a local sugarcane farm, and the opportunity to learn scuba diving on the barrier reef in our backyard.
IN THE NEWS
DR. KATE THORNTON
AUBURN UNIVERSITY
Our partnership with BTG has enabled our program to have a meaningful and long term relationship with the Mali community. Serving as our bridge to the tribe, we are able to work with BTG to facilitate not only logistics within Fiji but also navigate cultural norms during our time in country. This understanding of how to navigate Fijian village culture, developed over many years, is invaluable to both our program and our students. There is no way we would be able to achieve the levels of trust and community engagement without the active work of BTG. Currently we run over a dozen study abroad programs all over the world and this is by far the most immersive, transformational study abroad experience for our students.
ANDREW BATES
STUDY ABROAD STUDENT
As an engineer, I was always amazed at how when I went in for interviews, nobody asked about the year I had spent at a manufacturing facility interning as a manufacturing engineer. Instead, everybody talked to me about Fiji. They wanted to know what exactly I was doing on this remote Fijian island, and how this fit into the bigger picture of who I was an an engineer. I was somebody who could work in a foreign work environment. I was somebody that could lead a diverse team. I was somebody who could meet deadlines while capitalizing on scarce resources. The one month I spent in Fiji was actually more beneficial to my career than the year I spent at my manufacturing job.
BRYTNI EMISON
STUDY ABROAD STUDENT
I climbed to the top of the island and looked down- where it was possible to see both sides of the island at once, the Pacific Ocean to the north and the river leading to Labasa to the south. Not once did it seem strange or foreign to me to be seeing these things. It gave me an understanding of how everything, every person on the island could be family. Looking down from the top of the island, everything was perfect, nothing seemed out of place. There wasn’t the sense of destruction and need for over consumption that I felt in the States. Everything on Vorovoro already had a place and a purpose, and I was there to understand my place and purpose in the world. Vorovoro is where broken pieces fit together to make a whole. Where one plus one is one.