THERE are a precious few people who get the chance to represent Fiji at the Pacific Arts Festival so make the most of this opportunity and ensure your sacrifices have not been in vain.
This was the message from permanent secretary for Youth and Sports Joseva Sania for the National Youth Band (NYB) — Fiji's representatives to the Pacific Arts Festival.
He conveyed the message as the NYB presented their itatau to the ministry yesterday.
They will leave for the festival in Solomon Islands later this week
"You are not only representing the National Youth Band, you are representing the Ministry of Youth and Sport and you are representing the country," Mr Sania said.
"The youths of the NYB are disadvantaged, all are unemployed, they stay with relatives, they walk to school and they all have their own struggles, but they have the talent which is why they were chosen."
Mr Sania said the youths were going as ambassadors of Fiji and needed to showcase the behaviour and traditions worthy of their status.
NYB lecturer Joji Caudre said the Pacific Arts Festival was the pinnacle of achievements for them.
"This is our World Cup," Mr Caudre said.
"This is a big challenge for us but I believe the difficulty of this task rests solely with us, we can make it easy for ourselves," he said.
Mr Caudre added for some of the students it was their first time to leave Fiji and the experience would be one they would always remember.