The Star: April 20, 2017

The Star Latest Christchurch news at www. .kiwi
Thursday April 20 2017 11
and battling suicide earns youth award
That must be particularly important
since the earthquakes?
Definitely. We’re over-represented
when it comes to things
like mental health problems and
depression. A lot of our Pasifika
young people and community
live on the east side, and a lot of
us in the red zone felt we were
treated unfairly – not myself personally,
but it’s something I hear
a lot. It took a long time for the
Canterbury rebuild to make its
way to the east side, for our roads
to be fixed, for our houses to be
fixed. The feeling was, does our
city really care about us, when
it looked like the more well-off
on the other side of the city were
being taken care of first.
So what was the experience at
Parliament like?
It was fantastic. We met with
National MP Nuk Korako and
went to the gallery in Parliament
to watch David Cunliffe’s valedictory
speech, which was awesome.
It was actually my second time
going to Parliament, but the first
time going with my mum and my
sister, which was fantastic to do.
The best thing was that child-like
feeling, when I looked at my
mum and thought, yes, my mum
thinks I’m cool. In terms of the
community work I do, I guess my
friends and family know what I
do, but I don’t really talk in depth
about it. For my family, the only
time they really hear what I do is
when I get an award, so it’s pretty
special. And I’m a ‘mumma’s
boy’, so I just think if my mum
thinks I’m cool, I’m doing something
right in my life.
If it was your second time at
Parliament, when was the first?
I was part of a group presenting
to the Standing Orders Select
Committee, which sets the rules
that dictate how Parliament runs.
We went there saying if you want
more young people to vote and
be involved in democracy, you
need to make changes. They were
things like better utilisation of
Parliament TV and being able
to use your cellphones in Parliament.
And tell me a bit about your
life and interests outside of this
work?
To be honest, this takes a lot of
my life, and I really enjoy doing
TACKLE:
Wesley
plays rugby
for Sumner,
and hopes
his rugby
skills will
be a ticket
to travel
the world
one day.
PHOTO:
ROZELLE
MAY
this. But I do have other interests.
I play rugby for the Sumner
division 1 team. I’ve always loved
rugby. And I’m an engineering
student at Canterbury University,
currently second year in the civil
engineering department. Hopefully,
I should be done next year.
So you’re planning a career as
an engineer?
I still haven’t fully figured out
what kind of engineering I want
to do, but long term, yes, I want
to be a civil engineer. Short term,
I would love to travel, maybe
use the fact I can play rugby to
see the world, if I could play for
a European team somewhere.
I’d like to widen my experience
and then bring that back home.
But short and long term, I want
to keep working for my Pasifika
young people, in whatever capacity
I’m in.
And for the average person on
the street, is there anything we
can do day-to-day to help fight
suicide and mental illness?
It seems like such an airy-fairy
answer, but just a smile and a
bit of kindness goes a long way.
Having the courage to step out
in faith and ask someone if they
are okay, even if you don’t know
them, whether it’s an outlier in
a crowd, or if it’s a friend who
seems to be acting a tiny bit different.
These are signs, invitations
we call them, to go and talk to
them. Ask them, are you okay?
But at the same time, don’t expect
to be the answer and save their
life, just be there to listen and to
guide them to an actual professional
or counsellor. Don’t feel
the burden, because if something
does go wrong it’s not your fault.
Whatever you can give to a person,
your time or your presence,
is enough.
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