28 year old Asta Sonner who has lived in internet cafes and on the streets of Suva, is calling on the nation to positively deal with the people living on the streets as no one really wants to be there.
The young man who is of Fijian and German heritage, appeared on fijivillage Straight Talk With Vijay Narayan.
He talked about his journey as he came with his parents from Germany to Fiji, and his parents eventually broke up when he was in his early teens.
Sonner says he was left alone in the house, not knowing when his mum and dad would return.
As his food supply ran out, he started asking his new-found friends at internet cafes for some spare cash for food, and as he was kicked out of the house by the landlord, he was left with no option but to stay around in Suva with other friends, and then ask people for money to get his night pass to be in the internet cafe and then hide in the corner of the cafe and sleep there.
The young Asta Sonner captured sleeping at the back of the internet cafe Photo: Asta Sonner
When the owners found out, he was kicked out.
He then started living in places like Ratu Sukuna Park with other street kids, and their main source of food became the scraps from McDonald’s Restaurant which customers would leave behind.
The security guard, who they had made friends with, would give them the leftovers that would have been thrown in the rubbish bin.
He also had a little routine where almost every day, he would go up to MHCC before it closed, and would look for all the little plates that had a little bit of food left.
Sonner says in the beginning, it was very embarrassing but he knew he had to do this to survive.
During this whole ordeal, he was scared and had started to lose hope as he could not even stay clean every day.
He says the rejection also set in completely when he would ask people for money and they would treat him and other boys like dogs.
@fijivillage.com Asta Sonner's turning point in his life on the streets #fiji #fyp ♬ original sound - fijivillage
Sonner says the turning point for him was when he was thrown into the water along the Suva Foreshore and he was sitting and shivering in the cold on a watchtower looking at a warm glow in a building room.
Sonner says he had hit rock bottom and had contemplated things as he could not see a way out of it but he decided that it isn't the end yet.
The next day he was up and asking for any little money he could get, and he started off with a CV, putting a bunch of information that was not true, including that he had graduated.
He then printed as many applications as he could afford, and distributed it to every single shop.
Sonner did not want just a handout and he eventually got an opportunity at the Republic of Cappuccino to wash dishes.
He says he was the best dishwasher, and he didn't even use the actual dishwasher they had as he used his hands, and was quick.
@fijivillage.com Asta Sonner, when he first slept on a bed again in a house #fiji #fypツ ♬ original sound - fijivillage
He also started sleeping at the internet cafe again as he had money now.
Sonner then went into providing marketing services for The Merch, increasing the page followers from a couple of hundreds to 48,000.
He says he clearly remembers the first day when he slept again in a house that he started renting.
During COVID-19, he got the opportunity to set up the zoom accounts and sessions for all teachers and students of the International School in Pacific Harbour.
After this, he was offered to work as a computer teacher.
He then continued working on marketing services until he had a major breakthrough where he found a way to use Open AIs Application Programming Interface, to connect ChatGPT to a knowledge base.
Connecting these two, he created a chatbot system, the first of its kind in Fiji, that was running on large language models.
Sonner says it was the very first, he was not just one of the first in Fiji, but one of the first in the world.
He now runs a company called Limitless Marketing which is helping SMEs grow with AI-Powered Digital Marketing.
Sonner is currently working with Aruka Fiji which is a social positive network founded by Ratu Inoke Drauna.
Aruka Fiji engages Counsellors/Social Workers and Youth Development personnel.
Their inception in 2019 during COVID-19 allowed them to respond and provide psychological and psycho-social support for needy and grieving widows thus providing advocacy and support (safety, security, health, employment and educational support) for abandoned teens that are either street kids and teen sex workers.
Sonner plans to set up his own Foundation one day to help the people on the streets.
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