Roi Burnett, a Pacific Studies PhD student and proud I-Kiribati woman, wants people to know that Kiribati is more than just a country affected by climate change.
This week Aotearoa New Zealand marks Kiribati Language Week from 6–12 July.
Roi hopes the focus will be on the strength, culture, and resilience of her people. This year’s theme is about valuing cultural practices through love and respect to build a strong future.
Roi is named after her great-great-grandmother and spent two years living in Tarawa, the capital of Kiribati. Her family is from the islands of Beru and Onotoa.
“People often think of us as a sinking nation, but there’s so much more to us than that. We’ve been here a long time — and we’re not going anywhere,” she says.
While in Kiribati, Roi volunteered with NGOs and spent meaningful time with her family. She was deeply moved by how resourceful and resilient the people are.
“My family in Beru live in traditional homes and fish for their food. Life is very different there,” she says. “Things like weaving baskets or collecting water from a well were normal there, but new to me.”
Roi was born in Australia, raised in Fiji, and finished school in Dunedin. It was her time in Kiribati that inspired her to study further. She was especially interested in understanding gender-based violence in a culture that celebrates women.
That interest led her to do a Master’s degree, and eventually to Pacific Studies, where she is now doing her PhD — focusing on her homeland, Kiribati.
Fun facts:
First country to enter the New Year, as UTC+14:00 is the most advanced time zone in the world.
Kiribati has three time zones, which is quite unique for a small island nation:
- Gilbert Island Time (including the capital Tarawa) – UTC+12:00
- Phoenix Island Time – UTC+13:00
- Line Islands Time – UTC+14:00 (covers the Line Islands, including Kiritimati/Christmas Island)
Maritime Space:
Kiribati has one of the largest Exclusive Economic Zones around each of its 33 islands, resulting in a maritime area of approximately 3.5 million square kilometres—remarkable given its tiny land footprint of just 811 km².
Kiribati Across Four Hemispheres:
Kiribati is one of the few countries in the world located simultaneously in all four hemispheres—Northern, Southern, Western, and Eastern—due to its spread of islands straddling the equator and the 180th meridian.
