Breaking down Covid-19 information for our Samoan aiga (in Samoan)
A group of young Samoans at the centre of one of the AOG clusters in Auckland have been working hard to break down information to their aiga and community who have tested positive for the virus.
They made this video to help the many elderly people who had tested positive to understand the process. Many of the older Pasifika members of their community were traumatised by the positive test and anxious about what would happen to them.
The young students who put the video together to help them based on Ministry of Health information, hope it may help other people with the testing, social distancing and isolation process as well.
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Click here for Covid-19 information translations in all Pasifika languages
Click this link here for an interactive map on where to find a vaccination clinic near you https://karawhiua.nz/all-clinics/
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Made by Marcus Savelio, Tali Meavale and Ullrich Von Reiche.
VEA MAFILE'O - Tongan Film maker on the rise
Mālō e Lelei, My name is Vea Mafile'o and I am Scottish, English, Māori and Tongan from Tongoleleka, Ha'apai.
We need to have a voice on screen, so Pasifika women get to see stories on screen from our perspectives. Society puts us in such a box especially women of colour, we are all so judgy (I am too) about how we should look, think, act, behave, but as we all know there is no one size fits all.
So we need to know that it's ok to be a mixture of things, to be influenced by many different things, to be made up of different cultures that all have different values, challenges and to adapt to our environment.
We have the right to chose what fits us best, there is no right or wrong way, you are never going to please everyone and so we shouldn't have to. What we go through as women most men will never ever understand, and as brown women, that's adding a whole other layer.…more
WOMEN OF THE ISLANDS - 'OFA-KI-LEVUKA GUTTENBEIL-LIKILIKI
'OFA-KI-LEVUKA GUTTENBEIL-LIKILIKI
WOMENS RIGHTS ACTIVIST & FILM MAKER
TONGAN
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Women’s rights activist, community organiser and filmmaker ‘Ofa Guttenbeil-Likiliki is a courageous Tongan woman who has dedicated her life to telling stories that most people sweep under the fala. She dares to tell harrowing truths of the real life struggles of women in Tonga - survivors who she crosses paths with through her grassroots work to end violence against women and girls.
'Ofa is the Director of the Women & Children Crisis Center (WCCC) in Tonga. A space where women can turn to in a time of need. 'Ofa and her team of 25 don’t just wait for survivors to show up to doors, they work tirelessly on outreach and prevention.
The WCCC team carry out their prevention work through their concept of FOFOLA E FALA KAE FAI HA TALANGA. This means rolling out the mat and holding conversation with communities so that they can carefully unpack lives realities female survivors of violence in Tonga. Ofa and her team also use what they call a ULOA approach.…more
"I Am Lupe" a book dedicated to little Pasifika girls
Meet talented author of "I Am Lupe" and proud Tongan... Sela Atiola!
Sela Atiola is a Tongan writer residing in Australia. Her mother is from Nukunuku and her father from Lofanga, Fakakai and Mango in Ha’apai. She’s a mother and author of children’s book “I Am Lupe” that came out this year. Her writing career is inspired by her experiences as a Pacific woman and passion for meaningful representation of Pacific people.
This Tongan storyteller is a big believer in Pacific people writing their own stories. She sees value in using storytelling to empower our Pacific children, highlighting Pasifika excellence and seeing the power in lived experience. Representation in children’s literature is of great importance to society and Sela is willing to be a positive contributor to this change.
Her book “I am Lupe” explores themes of belonging, heritage and confidence in individuality. "I am Lupe" has moved readers around the world and is now available for purchase from huge literary spaces such as Target, Amazon and more.…more
Tongan TikTok Highlights
Our TikTok round-up this week is dedicated to #TongaTok in honor of Tongan Language Week!
Here we have our fave content this week from Tongan tiktok accounts that fall in to the catergories of Dancing, Adornments, Humour, Traditions and Singing...
Tongan Dancing
Tongan Adornments
Tongan Humour
Tongan Traditions
Tongan Singing
Community Finders – A partnership based on community safety and wellbeing
Via Pasifika Medical Association Group
Pasifika Futures (PFL) - the Whānau Ora commissioning agency for Pacific families – in partnership with The Fono, mobilized a team of Covid-19 “Community Finders” to help stop the spread of the contagious Delta variant within the Pacific community.
“The role of the community finder is to locate an individual referral we receive from the Auckland Regional Public Health Service (ARPHS) because they are a positive case or a close contact”, says Whānau Ora Manager for The Fono, Europa Kupu, who has been working closely with the PFL team to manage the Community Finders initiative.
She says the role is challenging when there are difficulties getting in contact with an individual after the usual methods (phone/email) are exhausted. In these circumstances, other means of reaching out such as home visits are used but with Alert Level 4 restrictions.…more
15yr old Samoan producer Jarom Su'a featured on Drakes 'Certified Lover Boy' album
Recently Canadian born rapper Drake released his sixth studio album "Certified Lover Boy" and amongst the list of producers on the album, is a young 15 year old Samoan producer - Jarom Su'a.…more
Supporting schools affected by the outbreak with agility and purpose
Via Pasifika Medical Association Group
When the current Delta outbreak affected the schools of De La Salle College and McAuley High School, there was no hesitation by Pasifika Futures (PFL) - the Whānau Ora commissioning agency for Pacific families - to reach out and offer their support.
Families were instructed to self-isolate immediately so the school community needed support with food supplies, utility relief and mental health care to ensure they safely and comfortably remain in their bubbles.
Deputy Principal for De La Salle College, Mr Elton Charles, said the school was grateful that PFL made significant efforts to quickly mobilize support to the students and their families.
“It was a curveball for the families. We had a large number of families mainly needing food support,” he said.
Mr Charles said the school immediately communicated the support that PFL were offering and were then inundated with responses from families.…more
TAMĀ: tributes to all our Pasifika fathers
TAMA: tributes to all our Pasifika fathers - Some tributes to our dads from around the world from their children.
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Otulea Latu
By his daughter Cathrine Tuivaiti
"Anyone that knows me, and has had the privilege of meeting my Dad too, will realise that is where I get a lot of my personality traits from. Stubborn and loyal being at the top of that list.
Me and my 9 brothers and sisters have always had such a hard working Dad to look up to. One thing he has always told me, that never really connected till I was old enough to understand was,
‘Never forget who you are and where you come from.’
My Dad is my favourite Dad in the world."
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Paul Elliott & Atu Lagi
By their son and step-son Jesse Elliott
“Blessed to have two men I can call Fathers in my life, Paul Elliott and Atu Lagi.…more
Pasifika Youth set to take up a new rugby league challenge again with the Pasifika Youth Cup 2021 in October
The inaugural rugby league Pasifika Youth Cup 2021 is set to kick off in October with a competition for both Pasifika boys and girls starting from U13s through to U18s.
It's an exciting opportunity for Pasifika and Maori youth to showcase their talent and also represent their respective island nations heritage in this one of a kind tournament.
In 2017, the Warriors added another layer to their development programme with the introduction of the Pasifika Youth Cup which was hosted in association with the New Zealand Maori Rugby League.
At that time the Pasifika Youth Cup featured U16 & U18 teams from NZ Maori, Samoa, Fiji NZ, Cook Islands and Auckland Niue Rugby League.
Fast forward to 2021, the Pasifika Youth Cup will now feature seven Pacific nations. The Pasifika Youth Cup resurgence came about with conversations between Samoa Rugby League executive Muliaga Brown and Warriors coach Tony Iro who is a Cook Islander.
The team behind the seven nations teams - Aotearoa, Cook Islands, Fiji, Niue, Samoa, Tokelau and Tonga talk here (in the video above) about the upcoming comp.…more