Celebrating Melanesian cultures in Aotearoa
Vitinia Waqairatu speaking at the Melanesian Festival Auckland.
On 22 October this year, Aotearoa’s first ever Melanesian Festival was held in Auckland and hailed as a huge success. More than 8,000 visitors enjoyed performances, food, and stalls celebrating the diverse and vibrant cultures of Melanesia.
Sala Seduadua and Vitinia Waqairatu representated Vaka Tautua at the event, both part of our Tagata Sa’ilimalo Disability Services team in Auckland and both proudly Fijian. Sala comes from the village of Somosomo on the island of Taveuni, while Viti hails from Nauluvatu village on Viti Levu. Viti took the stage to speak eloquently about Vaka Tautua as an organisation and the services available to the Melanesian community.
A sub-region of the Pacific, Melanesia includes Fiji, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and many smaller islands. The festival was created by local Melanesian communities to unify people who often feel overlooked and that their voices aren’t heard as loudly as other Pacific groups.
(L to R) Paula Suguturaga, Ateca Kerenia, Anna Pasikale, Vitinia Waqairatu, Mere Faraimo, Esala Vakamacawai.
Vaka Tautua is fortunate to have several staff who are originally from Fiji in our offices around the country. Anna Pasikale and Mere Faraimo are based in Porirua, and Esala Vakamacawai and Paula Suguturaga have the South Island covered in Christchurch and Dunedin respectively.
In the Wellington region, Mere has promoted Vaka Tautua’s Tupe Wise financial capability programme to Fijian communities as far as Whanganui and Palmerston North. Next year, she and the team intend to get involved in a planned Wellington Melanesian festival.
Esala Vakamacawai presenting at the Fijian Community Health and Wellbeing Talanoa in Dunedin.
In November, Esala participated in a Fijian Community Health and Wellbeing Talanoa to raise awareness of health issues affecting Pacific people and promote Vaka Tautua’s services. Registered nurses were also on hand to conduct screening tests for a variety of health conditions.
Esala, who is a doctoral candidate at the University of Canterbury, noted that the iTaukei (Indigenous Fijian) population in Aotearoa has significantly increased in recent years and continues to rise rapidly. His passion is to reduce the impact of non-communicable diseases on Pacific peoples, including iTaukei, so they can forge pathways to a better future.
As a ‘by Pacific, for Pacific’ organisation, Vaka Tautua is committed to including the diverse Melanesian perspectives in any conversation affecting Pacific peoples in Aotearoa.
