I am  a person who creates or knock’s on another door if one door closes, says Solomone Rabuli.

Put in the hard yards and keep going no matter the odds is his message to people.

The 29-year-old from Navunisole, Tailevu is currently pursuing his studies in Business Management at the University of the South Pa­cific (USP) while being employed at a Bank.

Mr Rabuli considers himself blessed to be brought up by his late grandparents and mother, who had played an important role in shaping his character.

Being the elder sibling to his younger sister, he hopes to set good examples for her. He is a fam­ily oriented person who wishes to succeed with the family:

Mr Rabuli started working at the age of 17 because he believed it could be a way of building his independence. He always aimed to chase his dreams but due to cir­cumstances he was not able to get attended full-time tertiary studies.

“I used to work during school breaks and it felt good to earn, it just gave me the picture of what I want my life to be in future.

”As a child I have always had as­pirations to do better in school and always had dreams of building a career goal that will not only ben­efit me but my family as well.:

“It was a learning curve to experi­ence the challenges of life, put in the hard yards and keep going no matter the odds,” he said.

His motivation was the drive to do better not only as a person but to set a standard in his family that would inspire those that are com­ing up to know that you can always turn dreams into reality:

”All it takes is sacrifice, determi­nation, having a clear vision of your goals in life and always walk­ing in faith while being hopeful for the best in life.

Selfless Fiji

Selfless Fiji is an organisation founded by Mr Rabuli in 2021 which volunteers in community services.

“Selfless Fiji speaks volume, it’s the ability to put others before you. As a person, I always value the people in my life and would find ways to be there for them. Be­ing conscious of my personality; motivated the idea of the name,” he said.

“The concept of our projects was to encourage volunteerism among our people, bring different people from all aspects of life and collec­tively make a difference.”

Mr Rabuli started the organisa­tion as he always had a passion for volunteering. As a child, he had always been into art and craft but wasn’t able to put his ideas onto a piece of paper.

“Leading the projects with a lot of talented artists and individu­als, my creative mind is able to sync well with the individuals in the team as whichever idea I stum­ble on in my mind about a certain artwork, the artists bring it to life.”

“It’s always been a passion and a tune that satisfies my soul. I felt I could create something with love I have for the community and peo­ple by starting an initiative where we encourage anyone to volunteer and be part of a great cause that will not only benefit the commu­nity but impact every individual that is involved.”

Selfless Fiji has so far completed three projects namely St Chris­topher’s Orphanage, Muaira Dis­trict School (Naitasiri) and Na­balabala Kindergarten (Ra) which were purely volunteered and cur­rently in process of Father in Law home makeover.

Mr Rabuli said the volunteers come from various professions including dentists, teachers, stu­dents, bankers, police officers and welders.

The projects are funded by various organizations and individuals.

Mr Rabuli is proud of how his childhood dreams are coming to life and believes to remain of a hopeful future.

He encourages young people who have spare time on their hands to join Selfless Fiji to make a differ­ence.

“We should not limit ourselves to what the world says that we can’t do. Once you set a goal in life, work towards it, learn to be open to feed­backs from those around you to build you as person, you may fail at times, we all do as human be­ings but at the same time keep at it no matter the odds and draw moti­vation from all the mountains you overcame over the years.

“It is satisfying to see people smile and emotional at the same time when you witness tears of joy of what we do,” he said.

Feedback: nolishma.narayan@fijisun.com.fj