Humans of the Islands - Ben Ioasa Tuimaseve

BEN IOASA TUIMASEVE

Freight Forwarding 

Niuean/Cook Island/Samoan 

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Tell us a bit about yourself - What you do / Where you're from / Your Pacific heritage.

Depending on the day i'll either say I work in Freight Forwarding or that I am a Rug Cutter…yeah can you put Rug Cutter/Singer if you need a title lol

Born and bred in South Auckland. My mum is Niuean/Cook Island and Dad is full Samoan. My parents split when I was young and I was brought up with mums side mostly but I have been lucky enough to still have a healthy relationship with my Dad and know the family from both sides pretty well which is awesome. 

What has been the biggest struggle growing up with a disability?

My disability is Hemiplegia, a form of Cerebral Palsy and affects one side of my brain (mostly physical but also mental) so I pretty much use only one side of my entire body. When I was young, it was either spend endless hours trying to train my brain to use the other side (not guaranteed) but I chose to just jam life and run with what I got & that choice was probably best. With amazing family and friends the good outweighed the bad, even though I may have done things a little differently but hindsights a wonderful thing. Sorry, a little off track (my bad!) but the biggest struggles were:

1. Confidence in general. Trying things and not being able to do them as well as others even though you tried your heart out.

2. Why so many people were hating, bullying & being ugly which did my head in but phased out as I got older and realised it's just ignorance when you're young.

3. Being crossed eyed. Man, thinking you're talking to people and them then saying "are you talking to me?" was so annoying aye and people saying hi just so you could look at them for a cheeky laugh was the same. It's funny now but it pissed me off back then lol Still get it today and probably why I struggle with eye contact.

I know there are people out there with worse disabilities and my family have been awesome throughout life in support, teachings and values but I have recently just acknowledged my disability in more depth and explored it more as I feel I have to know it to accept it and move forward in a healthy, honest way and feels like that's what's been missing in life but better late then never. I got sick of people saying I wasn't disabled like I was doing a dis-service to my life or declaring defeat when I said I was. It's actually the complete opposite.

You recently competed in a league comp for an indigenous team for people with disabilities - can you tell us about that experience & how you came to be in the team?

In Sydney, someone created and grew a League competition for people with physical disabilities. They also made an All Stars game concept where once a year the NSW Allstars play the Indigenous Allstars (4th year running I believe) and four of us from New Zealand were lucky enough to be invited to play in the Indigenous side. Two of the boys had played in the game before and since we have been playing together in the NZ Masters League comp this year, they managed to get an extended invite for two of us.

The experience was fulfilling on a lot of levels and what I felt I needed personally. I have always wanted to put on a League jersey like my old man/family, keen to work alongside other people with disabilities, feel the physical pain after a game and win against the Aussies; It was all of that except the score was declared a draw lol The game was pretty quick and physical, I was drained and so sore after it that I wasn't even keen on a beer. 

Thanks to NSWPDRLA for the invite, NZRL for the grant to help us get over, Otara Rugby League family and all the players involved for the mean day & experience.

Do you have a favourite league team that you follow and who are your favourite players?

Warriors, no doubt. There's something not right in house which I hope they sort out sooner than later. 

Favourite players are: Andrew Johns, Petero Civoniceva , Simon Mannering and Jason Taumalolo. Jonathan Thurston is the GOAT though.

How has your upbringing + culture shaped you into the man you are today?

Today, I am a person who is still very much a work in progress but who loves to sing and dance and will die trying to be a better person because of love from my family (& friends), being open to learning and being exposed to my pacific heritage.

My family are very tight and loves a big part of that which has been continuous since I was little but that element of love also extends to more than us. Love for other people, new things, the unknown, culture and life which just makes life easier when things don't go our way. There's someone who loves you or something to love regardless of what may happens. 

The idea of being open to learn about things, share it amongst each other and get to know each other as we've all aged to grow together has been a blessing. It's not that we know everything but I've found that everyone has knowledge and ideas of some kind that we can all learn from, take pieces from each other to peace problems, create ideas, heal and it all helps us to be better people but also more aware and connected to each other and things around us.

Being exposed to my Pacific heritage has ultimately given me a sense of identity. Everything from the food to the cultural practices/etiquette and especially the singing is the reason behind why I tick Niuean, Samoan and Cook Island boxes on forms or say it when people ask what I am. I know there's still a lot to learn about each one but even being aware and exposed to it is pretty awesome.

I know you're really passionate about music - what projects have you been listening to lately and who are your musical faves?

Sure am. I love to sing, cut rugs and NZ Music. My ultimate favourite Top 10 artists (no order) are Ladi6, Joe Dukie, Tom Scott, Sam Cooke, Rizvan, Kora, Sublime, Babyface, Anderson Paak & SWIDT. The Babyface spot changes though depending what day it is lol

The projects I've been recently jamming are:

Ladi6 - Royal Blue 3000 EP

Rizvan - Neverland EP

Melodownz - Avontales

SWIDT - Stoneyhunga (Dropping July 28th!)

Who are your biggest inspirations and why?

My family & friends - Just so much variety of awesome people on different paths, with different strengths and weaknesses that it's not one particular person because I can say things about each one as to how they have inspired me. 

Rug Cutting and Singing - These two things just give me so much feeling in my soul & makes me feel good. Some of the best compliments I have got from people (even strangers) is when I have been out cutting a rug and it inspires me to keep doing it to put smiles on faces and make people come to the dancefloor!  

NZ Music - A soundscape that keeps my feet moving, head nodding and a heavyweight range that's full of substance, skill and soul. Special shout out to Ladi6 aka my ultimate favourite…everyone knows it lol

What are your goals for the future? 

To try and make the 2020 Paralympics, Learn Samoan and Niuean, Learn to sing to become a skill, Play more league and I'd like to do a dance/story type video to incorporate my disability and love for cutting rugs are a few. I say cutting rugs because I feel a dancer is the official term which I am far from.

I'm quite a simple man really and know there's potential to do so much in this world and I know I will do some awesome things but 'less is more' works well for me aye and I do things more effectively that way. Like the Emotions said "Doesn't take much to make me happy"