Aysia Paeu-Vaafusuaga

Tālofa lava, my name is Aysia Paeu. I use the pronouns she/her. I am a New Zealand born – Samoan and was raised in the beautiful suburb of Ōtara, South Auckland.

I hail from the Samoan villages of Lalomanu, Vaimoso, Sapunaoa and Asaga.

I attended the University of Otago, where I completed a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Psychology and was involved in a range of voluntary work within the Pasifika student community.

As a Le Va Futures that Work scholarship and Le Tautua programme recipient, I am honoured to formally join the Le Va aiga.

I am passionate about fostering the social and academic potentials of Pasifika, so joining the Le Va team will allow me to professionally embody my passion.

A Samoan proverb I hold dear is “E lele a le toloa ae maau I le vai”, which loosely translates as a toloa (Samoan duck) will fly away but will always return to where the water is. I interpret this as no matter where or how far I go, I will always return to my cultural roots.