Bridging the gap: New digital platform set to save Fijian language for diaspora overseas

A new community-led digital movement is taking aim at the growing cultural divide facing Fijian families living across the globe.

Naisema - which means “connection” in Fijian - is a newly developed website and web application designed to help diaspora communities reclaim their identity, heritage, and language.

The idea was born out of personal frustration for founder Unaisi Natasha Mar, who is based in Brisbane after living in both Fiji and New Zealand.

She found herself searching for resources that matched her own stage of language learning and tools for her son.

"It began with an idea that I had to fill a gap that I saw in the market for Fijian language acquisition for people who have my proficiency," Mar told PMN Fiji.

"I have a lot of Fijian knowledge already... I am an adult,

I'm a parent, and I don't necessarily have to start from beginners' Fijian."

Naisema is designed to help diaspora communities reclaim their identity, heritage, and language. Photo/PMN Fiji

Finding no suitable available, Mar decided to build the solution herself, driven by concern for what the next generation stands to lose.

"This was one of the needs that I identified that sort of brought about the Naisema idea," she said. "When we start to have children, we start to ask ourselves what we will pass on... What will we pass on to our children?"

Her concerns mirror wider calls across the Pacific sector. In its strategy to support diaspora communities maintaining their mother tongue, the Ministry for Pacific Peoples stressed that cultural grounding is vital for communities living away from their homelands.

Naisema is currently preparing for its official public launch, with updates available via its Facebook and Instagram pages. Photo/Naisema

"As a diaspora population, our language, culture and identity is more important now, than ever before," the Ministry stated. "Language is more than just a way to communicate - it's a way to connect with our ancestors, our traditions, and our identity."

While language loss among Pasifika families living away from their homelands is widely recognised, Mar warns that the breakdown is also happening back in the islands.

"We don't only have issues speaking and holding on to our language ties overseas," she said. "The more Fijians that I spoke to in Fiji, the more that told me that their children also don't speak Fijian, living in Fiji."

She believes this disconnection from cultural identity is not just an academic issue, it has direct consequences for the health and safety of young people trying to navigate the modern world.

"This disconnection from identity and culture has led, in my view, or has played a big part in a lot of the social ills that we face today, like drug abuse, suicide, depression," Mar said.

"Our culture is something that we should draw strength from, and comfort, and a sense of belonging, identity, and wholeness in every sense."

The Ministry for Pacific Peoples stressed that cultural grounding is vital for communities living away from their homelands. Photo/PMN Fiji

Unlike corporate platforms or top-down cultural initiatives, Naisema is intentionally grounded in a grassroots approach.

Mar says the platform is built on direct community consultation, giving everyday Fijians a safe space to share their aspirations away from the hostility of social media.

"When I say 'from the community', I mean I am actually part of the community... I don't actually have any traditional qualifying markers to be someone that you would expect to start something like this," she said.

"Being from the grassroots community might actually resonate better with the diaspora because you don't have somebody from on top looking down and prescribing what this should and shouldn't be."

Having lived in New Zealand, Fiji, and Australia, Mar sees Naisema as a digital meeting place to unite Fijians everywhere under one voice.

Watch Unaisai Natasha Mar's full interview below.

"Naisema is there to encourage us with what we already are... You belong, as you are, you are a Fijian," Mar said.

Naisema is currently preparing for its official public launch, with updates available via its Facebook and Instagram pages.

Its motto sums up its core mission: Mai vei keda, ki vei keda - “From us, for us.”