TAGATA PASIFIKA - RELIGION AND PACIFIC PEOPLES

POSTCARD - CEREMONIAL GATHERING IN SAMOA (early 1900s)

I love this postcard. It conjures up pictures of old Samoa, from storytelling sessions my father shared with me of historical events of his time. He always referred to the sacredness of life and of God. He often reminded me of the sacred tie between parents and children and the changing roles of parent and child. That was how he ordered the universe for me. Always - always was the central focus of God and his acceptance that Samoan culture was ordered along God given lines of accountability based on respect, reciprocity and relationships.
As I watched Tagata Pasifika on Thursday evening, a panel of prominent Pacific people discussed the relevance of church, trading hours and young Pacific people moving away from the traditional Pacific churches to the more pentecostal forms of worship. I was amazed at how our traditional Pacific clergy are so defensive about their denominational faith and that newer established churches were dismissively referred to as "that or those churches" as if such churches were too modern to be accepted as serious christian affiliation.
Like everything else, youth move to where it's more relevant. So also with youth moving in ever increasing numbers to more pentecostal churches. Not because more traditional churches are wrong, NO - but there is a movement toward seeking the relevant message for everyday life.
Sadly there appears to be a declining number of young members attending mainstream Pacific churches. Today fewer Pacific parents practice Sunday as a day of rest. How much harder it is to preserve Easter weekends as sacred? I always marvel at my Muslim friends who answer to no one when prayer vigils for Ramadan or other occasions are required. How much more will our loss of the sacred also contribute to losing our souls? In the mean time let's remember that mental unwellness is at an all time high.

PASIFIKA - WHAT DOES THAT MEAN TO PACIFIC PEOPLES?

by Vinepa Aiono

1923 -British Samoa (postcard)
Life in a 'fale' such as that pictured in this old postcard has changed for many Pacific people. For others who settled in Aotearoa New Zealand from the 1940s and who now are survived by their second, third and fourth generation descendants, such a home would be viewed as idyllic and sadly today a tourist experience that one pays for. In November 2003 my sister Pou, Karen Palupe and I developed 'Pacific Woman's Month' with the assistance of Manukau City Council and a citation was issued by Sir Barry Curtis in honour of our Pacific Woman of The Year. In 2004 we moved the Pacific celebration of women to March and renamed it PACIFIC PEOPLES MONTH to coincide with the Pasifika festival and the Polyfest that was held in the same month. Oddly enough the great powers of Auckland introduced Celebrate Pasifika in 2005 and while others might claim that it was their novel idea, we can sincerely claim that the month long celebration of things Pacific was first made public by 1st PACIFIC. Now don't think you've entered the complaints corner, let's just say revisionist history likes stating the truth. I like to entertain the notion that all good Pacific ideas come from south Auckland .., and ain't that the truth!!!

We can now safely claim that Tagata Pasifika (refer Wikipedia) is a reference to Pacific peoples and/or their descendants who have made Aotearoa New Zealand their home. Although genealogical connections may exist with one or many of the islands scattered through out the Pacific Ocean, Tagata Pasifika are unique in their claim of Aotearoa New Zealand as their homeland. Celebrating 'things Pacific' represents an acknowledgement of the special relationship that New Zealand has with the Pacific region and the necessity to continue working in partnership with Tagata Pasifika to improve the socio-economic, socio-cultural and socio-political statistics of the emerging Tagata Pasifika youth population.

Celebrating Pasifika is more than bright colours, frangipani prints or coconut splashed bodies performing on stage. It is also a month for Pacific people's to truly assess themselves against the rest of the nation and to strategise how to become leaders in all spheres of Aotearoa New Zealand. This is home.

MANUREWA - "PRAYER" THE ANSWER TO VIOLENT CRIME

Perhaps it was the last Sunday in January 2008 that I attended the evening church service at Manurewa AOG, when the Pastor announced that the Lord had placed a burden upon his heart that afternoon. The burden he explained was the concern that the Lord had for the recent incidents in Manurewa where a young man was shot in a local Manurewa store by a youth and another youth caught tagging on a local fence was stabbed by a middle aged local adult for doing so. In a small suburb like Manurewa, such events cause nationwide disturbance. The pastor proceeded to read a passage from the Bible as follows;

"If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land". (King James Bible)

and then asked members to come up to the front and read the verse in segments and then pray as the Lord led them with specific reference to the Manurewa community. It was a powerful time of prayer for Manurewa.
I came away wondering about what healing would then begin to happen in Manurewa. I wondered if the many families in the community needed God. I didn't have to wait long. Many churches in Manurewa have gotton together and with the support of Mayor Len Brown and Deputy Mayor Sua Sio - an all night prayer vigil shall take place at Manurewa Central school this Friday 22nd February 2008.

Lets see how events unravel in Manurew after the next few months if we keep praying. The prayer of a righteous person availeth much - I believe that.

MANUREWA - Crime & Policing

by Vinepa Aiono (copied from article written on www.1stpacific.co.nz website)

There's a lot of nonsense being heralded about the place that more police on the streets would lower crime. That police are needed to patrol and respond to any crisis within the community is essential. We have suffered already from silly 'call out' responses from the police call centre that led to the death of a young woman some years ago in west Auckland. But we need more intelligent discussion in this area around policing. Many would argue that the presence of more police would lower the crime rate. It doesn't. For example the fight against obesity isn't won by making fruits more available in the western world. Similarly the fight against crime needs to be won within the conscience of a community and sadly it begins in the home - the place many of us refer to as the basic unit for all life - the family.

Attitudes, values, our culturalisms are what will lower the crime rate. We need to encourage our communities to take first responsibility with those we bring into the world as well as others less fortunate than ourselves. How is it that a multitude of young people can gather over 4 days at the Parachute Festival every year and no arrests are made??? Yes we can call it a religious christian thing and dismiss it as simply that. But we need to ask ourselves more seriously about the values that youth at the Parachute Festival have that prevents crime taking place and how we can learn from this.
Family is the best starting point because unless we possess the positive tools to impart pro-social behaviour, we will be raising a nation of misfits who believe it is their right to graffitti their neighbours fence or smash property for the sake of a quick buzz.

Police are required to respond to crises and other incidents where a preventative measure against crime is necessary. But the community must take responsibility for their young and not lose that right to the state. The state can never love our young, the state does not love our youth, the state can say it cares - but I know the difference between being cared for - without being loved. It's like sitting in hospital and being tended to by strangers. The state should only supplement us with services in a crisis situation and in that way support us to raise great citizens for public service.

RESIDENT OF MANUREWA 2008

Violent crime in Manurewa 2008 has been a hot topic in the media this past week. Radio and TV talk shows have been hyped up even further by the State of the Nation speeches from both sides of the house calling for special initiatives to deal with crime once it has occurred and preventative measures to keep young people learning longer rather than being left to develop creative anti-social habits in the Manurewa hood.
All of these policies are well meaning but still miss the mark. Poverty is the core issue. Ask most young offenders and they will identify a lack of financial resources, bills that parents and caregivers couldn't pay, and the issues continue from then on. Just getting by in most Manurewa households leaves little time for parents or caregivers to exercise caring or supportive attitudes for their children to succeed.
Attack poverty and public health shall improve, violence may decline, less of our young people may feel inclined to drop out of school, home ownership might rise and we might then have time to share and instill good values into our young people in society. So much is now being written about 'work-life balance' and I suspect that only applies to upper income earners who have the luxury of considering BALANCE while those less fortunate struggle to balance their bank accounts.
HELP ERADICATE POVERTY - HOW DO WE DO IT? I'm looking for the answer.