I have tried in the past year to use the talking circle in restorative justice practices with my nieces and nephews and also with my siblings but I am posed with a challenge and that is how do I get people to talk when there is a culture of silence.. The problem I have is that in our Fijian culture, ‘silence’ is the norm.

In Western society it is considered rude to look down when someone is speaking to you while in our Fijian culture it is considered a mark of respect. In the Western culture it is considered normal to have both parties engaged in a typical conversation while in the Fijian culture the older or those who have a higher social standing is the one doing most of the talking. In my context, I am the eldest in my family and my father is also the eldest child, so I hope you can understand my predicament. Most of the time I am the only one doing the talking.

This is what one normally has to deal with in Fijian culture and my request to restorative justice practitioners is ‘are there options available which have worked which can bring people out their shells?’