During the lockdowns the Rotorua Pacific Islands Development Trust provided support packages, not only for their local community, but for Pasifika people in Taupo, Matamata and Kawerau. When their people reach out, they respond even if it has to be through phone assessments and arrangements with supermarkets in other towns.

In normal times, their scheduled programme, delivered by a staff of 12, responds to the needs of Pasifika people in Rotorua.

There is a Whānau Ora programme with two navigators (one of whom is a nurse, and she focuses on health), an early childhood centre and a bunch of programmes including, Kaukaua for youth, Rokovilva for the elderly, financial workshops, and dance exercise classes.

The Trust has a twofold method of engaging with the community – through their governance structure and having a staff member dedicated to community engagement.

The composition of the Board ensures that the Trust is responsive to all the main Pacific communities in the city. Each of the five major Pacific populations – Samoan, Cook Island, Fijian, Tokelauan and Tongan – nominate two people to represent them on the board: “They are a voice for their communities,” says Mata Mafileo the Trust’s Manager.

Their Community Engagement and Marketing Coordinator is Amy Uluave:

“My role is to engage with our community members to find out what services the Trust should provide. We hold a community fono every four months to hear what they have to say, including their feedback and how to improve our services and any new needs. This holds us accountable to our communities.

“My role also involves engaging with schools and community groups and organisations such as the DHB and medical centres. We’ve recently collaborated with them to organise vaccination sessions for Pacific people.

“And this year has been a great year for collaboration. We are in the process of working up a housing plan with the Ministry of Pacific Peoples and Whānau Ora – to identify ways we can support the community into housing.

“We are also collaborating with the MSD. A lot of Pacific people find it hard to understand MSD processes and ways of doing things, so our MSD office now has a Pacific Islands liaison person who comes down to our office to engage with our Pacific families.

“As well, I spend some of my time getting to know Pacific people living in Rotorua who are not connected into the Pacific communities or churches. These people often feel inadequate or shy about being part of the Pacific community. They may not have been brought up in their culture. Or they may not go to church and feel judged. So I often meet with them one-to-one. We treat everyone as our family. We are not there to judge.

“Events also give us a lot of exposure with the wider community and people that we do not normally engage with. Our biggest yearly event is our Pacific cultural celebration. We hold it down at the lake front. There’s entertainment during the day, and food stalls. It gets us a lot of exposure.”

All of the programmes provided by the Trust have come as a result of either requests by the community or though needs identified though their Whānau Ora Programme.

“We create programmes to support our families, so they can achieve their aspirations,” says Mata. “When we start working with them, we find that many of our families are in debt. They can’t afford their rent or any school activity fees. We talk with them about their goals. They can go on our financial literacy programme and we help them develop a financial plan. We are very strict with them. They have to be very honest with themselves and with us. When they are ready, we help them write a cv and find a job. We advocate for them.

“For example, last year when one of our Whānau Ora navigators was talking with a family which was having a real struggle financially, she found out that the father was really passionate about becoming a policeman, but he didn’t know where or how to start. So we helped him to register on a course – we paid the fees, provided him with a device and worked alongside him for eight months until he got accepted into Police College. We gave him support with the interview. Now he is a policeman. He’s moved out of town now and lives in Tokoroa. That is what we do. We help families to stand on their own two feet.

Mereula Thomas is the Health/ Whānau Ora Navigator and education is an important part of her job. She calls it health literacy, for example: helping people to understand their medication; or going to the hospital, at a nurse’s request, when a Pacific person is admitted and needs information and support; or explaining a discharge summary: “I follow them up at home and talk with them about what they have to do, and why. Often they have not even read the instructions.”

Health education – on healthy living, eating and physical exercise – is also part of the programmes for the elderly and youth.

Rokovi lva, the programme for the elderly started this year as a result of a request from a fono in 2020. It promotes healthy living, healthy eating and physical exercise. It also provides sessions on how to use mobile phones, laptops and other devices. It’s not just for Pacific people. Amy says that by bringing the different Island groups together the programme also fosters understanding between the different cultures.

“A lot of our elderly, the aunties and uncles, came from the Islands many years ago and they have held onto their culture. This programme is also about introducing them to different cultures, Māori, Asian – there are many different cultures out there. It is often a new experience for our elderly. Being in a room with other nationalities. They really love every second of that programme, introducing them to people that they normally wouldn’t meet. And it gets them out of home.”

The need for information about health and wellbeing is also regularly identified through consultation with Pacific youth.

“Kaukaua means strong,” says Monika Bansal, who is responsible for the Kaukaua Youth Programme, “and that’s what they say they get out of it – strength and confidence. A lot of them are very shy, so it is a chance for them to share their journeys and learn new skills.

“A nurse leads the health and wellbeing sessions. There’s leadership development, and in the education and training session they learn how to write a cv, do an interview and find out about free training programmes in the community. We also help them with getting a driver licence which includes putting them in touch with an organisation that provides free driving sessions for PI youth.

“They share experiences and have good discussions. A highlight for them, they often say, is learning about each other’s cultures. Pacific youth love to sing and dance, so they really love those sessions.”

The programmes and support are all free. The Trust is funded by the Ministry of Health, the Department of Internal Affairs, Pasifika Futures Ltd and Lakes DHB.