Standing together against violence

It has been an exciting year for the Atu-Mai team at Le Va. Atu-Mai is New Zealand’s violence and sexual violence prevention programme for Pasifika youth and their families. Atu-Mai equips Pasifika people with the right knowledge, information, education, resources, and tools to prevent violence in our communities.

Over the past year, we have provided workshops at schools, churches, and community events. We also upgraded our e-learning website to increase access for our people.

There were several highlights throughout the year. In October 2019, we partnered with the Pacific Fashion Fusion Show to deliver the ‘Dressed in confidence Wellness Day’ to over 70 Pasifika youth from across South Auckland. It was an inspiring day, harnessing our Pasifika culture to strengthen self-worth in our future generation of leaders.

In the beginning of the year, Le Va’s Atu-Mai team performed assembly promotions in seven South Auckland secondary schools. The assemblies were lively and involved a creative presentation where our youth development lead Marina Alefosio delivered a spoken word on cultural identity and promoted Atu-Mai resources and tools.

Engagement with our community and organisations has provided many opportunities to ‘stand together violence’. This past year we collaborated with over 70 organisations and community groups. One such collaboration resulted in the team uniting with the Pasifika Media Network on their Divas tour in Auckland and Christchurch, which involved a showcase of well-known Pasifika singers and artists. The Atu-Mai team delivered pre-show masterclasses to young Pasifika creatives on wellbeing, respectful relationships, and cultural identity.

Le Va’s Atu-Mai team looks forward to ongoing connections and coming together to empower our communities to prevent violence. Check out a snapshot of our results.