“You educate a man; you educate a man. You educate a woman; you educate a generation.”
– Brigham Young
Toastmasters Speechcraft Training
Beginning in October 2020, Pasifika Youth representatives within PWA and Pasifika Young Peoples Wellbeing Network (PYPWN), had the opportunity to improve their public speaking and furthermore develop leadership skills through an 8-week Toastmasters Speech Craft course.
Throughout the 8 weeks, the participants gained a number of useful skills & resources on; vocal variety, speech writing, gestures, visual aids and each week combatted their nerves by delivering passionate speeches to their peers. On Saturday, 12th December members of the community were invited to a celebration at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) – Kelvin Grove Campus to acknolwedge the completion of the course.
Congratulations to the following PWA & PYPWN participants!
● Alexandra Pitcher ● Augusta Lokea ● Dan Utiku-Roberts ● Iree Chow
● Renae Graff ● Sophia Meolver ● Sarai Tafa ● Tima Mata’afa
This celebration also provided an opportunity for the community to witness the immense improvement of participants through speeches and a panel dialogue presented on the day. We are thrilled to share one of these speeches, titled ‘Self care is not selfish’, on the following page written and presented by Tima Mata’afa.
On behalf of the Pasifika Women’s Alliance, we would like to acknolwedge PYPWN, Visible Ink Youth Hub, Brisbane City Council, Queensland University of Technology (QUT) and the wonderful Toastmaster facilitators – Marina Bruno & Maria Buttazzoni as opportunities like this for our Pasifika youth would not be possible without their support.
Talanoa Pasifika
‘A Pasifika way of creating space for storytelling and dialogue’
Talanoa Pasifika was first initiated by the Pacific Island communities in Queensland and is now an annual conference which focuses on issues affecting Pacific Island people in Australia. The conference builds a bridge between Pacific communities and local government, between academic researchers and industry leaders. It promotes multicultural understanding by providing a platform for people working at the “grassroots” level to have a voice, and for policy makers to gain a better understanding of the realities of life for Pacific Island people in Australia.
Presenters and attendees have shared their knowledge and experience on the solutions that have provided great social outcomes, and how we can optimise solutions to increase these outcomes for our future.
PWA has supported Talanoa Pasifika over the years by sitting on the Talanoa Pasifika Steering Committee. Pictured left is past PWA Committee Member, Ema Vueti on the 2013 Talanoa Pasifika Steering Committee.
SITS / Sherwood Security Training
Members of the PWA Committee worked tirelessly with the institute and participants to culturally tailor the training, ensuring the best educational experience and outcomes were gained by the students. Congratulations to the participants who have completed the course and gone onto various employment opportunities.
PWA formed a partnership with the Sherwood Institute of Training to deliver 3 certified training courses in 2014 to members of our Pasifika community.