Coco Talanoa — Coco News / Page 59
Cook Islanders get into the spirit of giving this Christmas
Check out the awesome work the Cook Islands are doing for those who need a little bit more Christmas cheer this Christmas.
The Cook Island community has come together to support 1000 of its families most in need.
Source: ONE News
Samoan-Niuean graduate moves the room with Graduation speech
This is not the first time Joshua Iosefo, a spoken word artist, has made waves with a speech. In 2012 while a schoolboy at Mt Roskill, he appeared on Campbell Live with a speech called "Brown Brother" in which he talked about the stereotypes about Pacific Islanders.
Iosefo made an impassioned speech about overcoming adversity to graduate, with a video of the emotional moment now surpassing 75,000 views online.
Joshua Iosefo, a Bachelor of Communication Studies graduate of Samoan-Niuean descent from South Auckland, told the 2015 Design and Creative Technologies graduation ceremony that to walk across the stage and receive his degree was about "more than a piece of paper".
"We all have our own walk. We all come from different walks of life," he said.
With his voice breaking, the 21-year-old tells his fellow students and friends what the day means to him.
"When we walk across this stage we are saying we did it. When we walk across this stage we made it ...…more
Isolated Pacific islands get Christmas presents by parachute
Australian, Japanese and US air force planes deliver food and toys to remote atolls as part of the annual Operation Christmas Drop
Australian, Japanese and US air force planes are dropping food and toys on remote atolls in the Pacific as part of the US military’s longest-running humanitarian relief mission.
The packages will support 20,000 people across 56 islands in Micronesia, the Mariana Islands and Palau.
The US Air Force began the annual Operation Christmas Drop in 1952 when a Guam-based air crew noticed residents on the island of Kapingamarangi waving at them as they flew overhead. The crew gathered items they had on the plane, attached a parachute and dropped them to the islanders.
Cook Islands road toll fatalities points to 'gutless' MP's
They dot the island like brightly coloured fast moving road insects, the cheapest, effective and most fun way to get around the tiny country.
But while the island breeze catches in the head ei's of the mamas, there is a much darker picture to this carefree vision of paradise. Lack of helmets and driving drunk are turning these machines into instruments of death - and the numbers are soaring.
After the most recent fatality over the weekend locals are labelling the Cook Islands’ parliament members ‘gutless’ as they continue to procrastinate over changes for road safety legislation.
The tiny Island of Rarotonga has the second highest road traffic deaths per capita in the world and has had five deaths by motorcycle this year on its short 20 minute island road.…more
PNG to offer citizenship for West Papuan refugees
Papua New Guinea are preparing to give citizenship to refugees from West Papua who are fleeing their homeland.
The Department of Immigration states they are in the process of granting citizenship to West Papuan refugees.
Deputy Chief of PNG Migration and Refugees Affairs, Esther Gaegaming said about 3000 refugees from West Papua who are currently stayed at refugee camps in East Awin, Iowara, Kuinga of North Fly Province have been registered.
Gaegaming says that refugees are the most vulnerable people in the world, and most of whom have lived in PNG for over fifteen years. “This is the greatest humanitarian crisis of all time, and this displacement is happening at around the world,” she said.
UNHCR (United Nations Refugee Agency) considers the measures taken by the Papua New Guinea Government as positive act to integrate the West Papua refugees, and in order to protect the refugees, a clearer legal basis of this new migration is also in preparation.…more
Miss World Fiji rocking Bulalicious fashions!
In case you've been wondering where the gorgeous Miss World Fiji Brittany Hazelmann gets her activewear from, check out Bulalicious!
Rocking the beautifully colourful line inspired by the natural landscapes of Fiji, the clothing line is donating a portion of every item purchased towards 'Beauty with a Purpose' - the fundraising initiative run by the Miss World Pageant.
Check out their website for more of their gorgeous range!
Images courtesy of Bulalicious.
Victory for Mauna Kea protectors
The Hawaii Supreme Court has voted unanimously to vacate the permit allowing the Thirty Meter Telescope to be built atop Mauna Kea.
In order to proceed, project officials must return to the state Board of Land and Natural Resources to seek re-approval.
The justices concluded that the state Board of Land and Natural Resources violated due process when it approved a permit for the $1.4 billion project in 2011 prior to holding a contested case hearing.
The state and University of Hawaii, which applied for the permit in 2010 on behalf of the TMT Observatory Corporation, argued that the 2011 permit was preliminary and the final permit was issued in 2013. But the justices weren’t swayed.
“Once the permit was granted, Appellants were denied the most basic element of procedural due process — an opportunity to be heard at a meaningful time and in a meaningful manner,” wrote Chief Justice Mark Recktenwald and associate justices Paula Nakayama and Sabrina McKenna in the majority opinion.…more
Tanna - Trailer
In one of the last traditional tribes in the South Pacific, a young girl, Wawa, falls in love with her chief’s grandson, Dain. When an inter-tribal war escalates, Wawa is unknowingly betrothed as part of a peace deal.
The young lovers run away, but are pursued by enemy warriors intent on killing them. They must choose between their hearts and the future of the tribe, while the villagers must wrestle with preserving their traditional culture and adapting it to the increasing outside demands for individual freedom.
Based on a true story and performed by the people of Yakel.
The film from directors Martin Butler and Bentley Dean is the first to score an Oscar nomination for Australia, which has submitted 10 titles since 1996.
The movie also is the first feature from the directors and the first shot in the nation of Vanuatu. It stars non-actors who had never even watched a film, and it was shot with no electricity — everything was solar-powered, including the editing bay.…more
12 Reasons why Hawaiian people are the best kind of people!
The Hawaiian Islands are truly amazing – full of natural beauty, culture, the Aloha spirit, and incredible people. Here are twelve reasons why individuals from Hawaii are the best people you will probably ever meet.
Just a normal girl with normal girl issues
Early this year I was looking for an actress to play Shalimar Seiuli — the young American Samoan fa’afafine who was infamously pulled over in a car with Eddie Murphy early one morning in Los Angeles, in 1997.
A year later she was dead — and it was this that led me to write a play called Girl on a Corner, where Shalimar got to tell her version of events.
I knew the actress playing Shalimar had to be transgender. I knew she had to be good enough to carry an entire play on her shoulders. And I knew she had to have the guts to swear like a trooper in Samoan and yet be vulnerable enough to let the audience share Shalimar’s joy — and, more importantly, her pain.
In the end, I picked Amanaki Prescott-Faletau, a Tongan graduate of the Pacific Institute of Performing Arts (PIPA) in Auckland. She is what Tongans call fakaleiti or fakafefine, and Samoans fa’afafine. Meaning, like a lady — like a woman.
Casting her was a leap of faith.…more