Despite being well established in New Zealand for many years, former Fijian citizens have never lost their interest in and concern for their birthplace and its people. This yearning shaped the intentions of a group of medical practitioners, business professionals, and community leaders to form Friends of Fiji Health as a vehicle to serve the health needs of some of Fiji’s needy.

Friends of Fiji Health NZ. [FOFH] is a New Zealand-registered charity organisation established in July 2010. Its primary purpose is to form teams of specialists to travel to Fiji and provide medical treatment for the neediest from time to time. New Zealand-based volunteers staff its missions, and it is resourced by voluntary contributions in money or in kind. It focuses on both early clinical intervention and surgical procedures.

The first “reaching out” project was the result of a scoping exercise, assembling a clinical team, developing appropriate systems and completing the mission. This document traces the first mission’s process and lists its achievements.