Christchurch 2009

The Southern region fono was held on Wednesday, 22 April at the Waipuna Trust Centre in Christchurch, with participants from as far south as Invercargill. The programme proved to be a challenge as it was very full, but was again skilfully facilitated by Fuimaono Karl Pulotu-Endemann.

View the programme from the Christchurch fono.

The format was very similar to the Wellington fono. After the update by Dr Monique Faleafa, project updates were presented by Papali’i Johnny Siaosi and Phil Siataga. These were projects funded by the Le Va Fakatu’amelie Innovation Fund in 2008. The Waitemata DHB (WDHB) and Waipuna Trust were both successful applicants in the 2008 round.

The WDHB National Pacific Consumer and Family Recovery Conference programme was presented and promoted by project leader Papali’i Johnny Siaosi. Phil Siataga followed with his presentation on the Waipuna Trust project to develop the “I Am” manual. This training resource uses the power of personal stories to help address identity issues and self-discovery for young people experiencing mental illness.

A number of Pacific providers from the Southern region delivered brief overview presentations of the services they provide. These included Mark Esekielu who gave an outline of Pacific Trust Canterbury and the services the Trust provides. Maria Glanville, also from Pacific Trust Canterbury, delivered a presentation with her team on the ‘Like Minds Like Mine’ project she leads. Brenda Johnson, of Pacific Island Evaluation in Christchurch, gave an overview of the organisation on behalf of manager Sala Johnson. This was followed by Key Frost who gave a presentation on the Invercargill Pacific Island & Cultural Trust. 

The afternoon session opened with a presentation by Vito Nonumalo on the changing Pacific population. This was based on a survey conducted by Le Va last year with a number of young Pacific people in Wellington. A formidable panel was then convened to discuss the findings of Vito’s survey and presentation and also cover any questions from the floor. A full report of these and other findings will be made available in the full Drua 2009 - Evaluation report.

Page last updated: 29 April 2009