The Star: April 20, 2017

10
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Our People
Thursday April 20 2017
The Star
Wesley Mauafu
Passion for helping Pasifika community
Wesley Mauafu is
passionate about helping
Pasifika young people,
whether it’s fighting high
suicide rates or inspiring
them to have a voice in
politics. Last week he was
invited to Parliament to
receive a New Zealand
Youth Award for his work.
He spoke to Gabrielle
Stuart
Why is the issue of suicide so
important to you personally?
It started four years ago, when
I did my first suicide prevention
training. I went as a fresh-faced
young guy, and to be honest, I
was so oblivious to the horrific
statistics of my own Pasifika
young people. They have so
much potential and so much
to give to the community as a
whole, so when I found out we
were perishing and struggling
with our well-being it hit home
a lot. From that day, every time
I have seen a programme or
initiative aimed at well-being, I
am always keen to put my hand
up and say yes, let’s do this. Our
group, PYLET, is the council for
Pacific Youth Leadership and
Transformation. Through this,
we are seriously saving Pasifika
young people’s lives. That’s the
motivation for me.
Do you approach things differently
when you’re working
specifically with Pasifika youth?
I definitely think we do. It’s
little things like understanding
our values. We’re brought up in
our family environment with
LEADER:
Wesley
Mauafu
chaired
the first
meeting
of PULSE
– Pasifika
United
to Lead
Suicide
Prevention
Education –
last year.
fa’aaloalo, which is the Samoan
word for respect, and tautua,
which means service. So service
comes into the community
work that we do, and respect
means respecting our elders.
Understanding our cultural
values helps us work better with
Pasifika youth.
The Pasifika community in
Christchurch is quite tight-knit,
right? Is that a strength, when
you’re fighting something like
suicide?
Well, we originally held three
suicide prevention workshops
and something we found was,
yes, we do have a very strong
community, but within Pacific
cultures there are also a lot of
stigmas we had to try to get rid
of before we could talk about the
actual issues. They were things
like we should sweep it under the
rug, because if we talk to young
people about suicide it might
plant the seed of suicide in their
mind. We also have to bring
down the stigma that you should
feel ashamed if someone in your
family has taken their own life.
We need to communicate with
our young people and our elders
that it’s okay to talk about it and
there is no shame in it, because
we are all going through hard
times. The next question is, how
do you talk to people about it?
That’s what we’re trying now
to impart to our Pasifika community.
ANZAC Day
Remembrance
Service, Tuesday
25th April
10am
Welcome to our special ANZAC Day Remembrance Service
We’re holding a special ANZAC Day Remembrance Service for our ex-service men and women, their mates, comrades, and
all those who have served New Zealand. Our service will be held at Ilam Village and you are welcome to join us. There will
be ample seating, and we will observe a minute silence before enjoying morning tea, including delicious ANZAC biscuits.
Small gift packs of ANZAC biscuits will also be available to take home. ANZAC Service, Tuesday 25th April, 10am.
28 Ilam Road, Upper Riccarton,
Christchurch Ph 03 348 5305 or
email info@ilamretirement.co.nz
www.ilamretirement.co.nz
0800 278 432