The Young Free & Pacific Male Day was held at the C3 Church in Ellerslie
On Wednesday, 20th May Phil Chan-Tung 13RRA, Daniel Fa’avae 13MWS, Fabian Fabricius 13THA, Jadyn Falo Fai 13MMT, Vince Peleseuma 13TNN and Siliva Tuli 13RRA attended the Young Free & Pacific Male Day held at the C3 Church, in Ellerslie.
The first speaker of the day was Jim To’o Filiva’a Stretton, a Pacific Youth Social Worker and Carver of Samoan and European descent who specialises in suicide prevention and helping young pacific people figure out their identity. He talked about balancing life as a full time business owner, a father and husband and a social worker and how he doesn’t quite know how we can balance all of these tasks but one thing that stuck out was his truthfulness in expressing the need to give back to others and the community over yourself - Fabian Fabricius 13THA
Spoken Word Workshop - I enjoyed expressing myself in my writing. I felt connected with fellow Pasifika students from other schools as we came together to discuss relevant topics about our voice and its importance in New Zealand society today. The Spoken Word workshop allowed me to listen to the layered voices of my people and relate it to how I feel as a Pacifika youth - Jadyn Falo Fai 13MMT
Second Speaker: The second speaker of our Young Free and Pacific experience was Joe Pomelile, an insightful Tongan speaker who emphasized the importance of influence from others in your life as well as from ourselves to others. He talked about how every moment and every conversation impacts your goals and outcomes in life. I understood from his talanoa, that positively influencing another person such as being a good role model or a leader can be the small factor that changes a person’s life for the better - Daniel Fa’avae 13MWS
Show case: Towards the end of the program I really enjoyed the showcase that was executed by the students who attended this program. It was a mix of all the activities that were held at the program such as spoken word, music, and dance, my favourite was the dance as they performed a mako which is a male Tongan dance that comes from Uvea - Siliva Tuli 13RRA
As Polynesians we always have to have food. The YFP served us food so that we would not come back with an empty stomach. It also really helped us because if there was no food there wouldn't be energy. I also enjoyed the first speaker. He really inspired me with what he was saying, which was about him changing his lifestyle to save his family from struggling. Since being back to school, I am going to do the same thing as he did so that my family can be saved from struggling. Vince Peleseuma 13TNN
Thank you to Mr Talamaivao for organizing us for the day.
by Daniel Fa’avae 13MWS
