by Zhang Yongxing

SUVA, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- A China-aided palm leaf weaving workshop started on Thursday in Fiji, aiming to help train rural Fijian women to upgrade their weaving skills.

To celebrate the opening of the workshop, jointly organized by the China Cultural Center in Fiji and Fiji's Ministry of Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation, a grand and traditional ceremony was held on Thursday in Nabudrau, a village around 30 km from the Fijian capital city of Suva, with the participation of Fijian government officials, village chiefs, 30 women from 10 surrounding villages and representatives from the China Cultural Center in Fiji.

Mereseini Vuniwaqa, Fiji's Minister for Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation, congratulated the Fijian women for being able to attend the workshop and thanked China for supporting this workshop which will last for a week.

For his part, Deng Xianfu, director of the China Cultural Center in Fiji, expressed his hope that the women attending the workshop will make nice weaving products upon their graduation.

"I hope you will make nice weaving products upon your graduation and give us a big surprise. As the number of the participants is limited, I hope in this workshop we will train the trainees. When you go back to your villages, you can transfer the skills you have learnt to your fellow villagers. In the future, we will hold more training workshops like this one on other handicraft making, such as bamboo weaving and wood carving, so that our Fijian friends can benefit more from our cultural exchange projects," he said.

The workshop has triggered exciting reactions from Fijian government officials and ordinary Fijians.

Dr. Josefa Koroivueta, permanent secretary of Ministry of Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation, voiced his satisfaction with the workshop, saying that this workshop will help Fijian rural women a lot and Fiji is grateful to China which has provided a lot of assistance to the island nation.

"We are very grateful to China for making this workshop available. We are excited because we know our Fijian women will gain from this skill of China and after this workshop, we will have the products we have not had before. We look forward to and we will remember the training that will have impacts upon our generations. The families that will use the skill from China will benefit from this training. Actually this is a symbol of the real close and friendly relationship between Fiji and China. And we are sure that from here, more big opportunities will be available for us," he told Xinhua.

Several women attending the training told Xinhua that they are very pleased to have this training chance and believe that they will learn a real skill that will help them make extra money.

"We really want to thank China for giving us this chance for training, Vinaka Vakalevu (Thank you very much)," they said.

Liu Junying, an experienced woman trainer from China's Sichuan province, is a famous palm-leaf weaving inheritor in China. She has visited many countries to train people wanting to learn palm-leaf weaving.

"I am very happy for being in Fiji to train these rural women as this is a good chance for the two cultures to learn from each other and this will no doubt help promote the mutual understanding and friendship between China and Fiji," she told Xinhua.

According to Deng, this is the first time for the China Cultural Center to bring cultural activity like this to the Fijian rural area. And in the future, the center will do more similar events for rural Fijians.