Staff who volunteer: Rowena Fuluifaga – Developing as a leader

08/05/2019

 

2019 Volunteer Expo

Our Career Development team is hosting a Volunteer Expo in Te Puna on Wednesday 15 May.

Volunteering is a great way to give back to the community and for our students to get valuable work experience on their CV before leaving Unitec, plus new skills and networking opportunities! 

Staff are all welcome to come along and explore if volunteering is something they’d like to get involved in. Offering your time as a volunteer can help create new networks, experience a different area of business and be inspired by others.

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Find out more about volunteering!

Make sure you come along to the Volunteer Expo on 15 May, from 11am – 1pm!

 

Bring your students along!

Please encourage your students to come along or talk with Deborah Crossan or Dianna Bluck to find out more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Staff who volunteer: Rowena Fuluifaga says that volunteering at P.A.C.I.F.I.C.A Inc. has helped her to develop as a leader and feel connected to her community.


Who do you volunteer for?
P.A.C.I.F.I.C.A. Inc. which was founded and established 43 years ago in New Zealand at the height of the Dawn Raids (the controversial mid-70s raids on the homes and workplaces of alleged Pacific Island overstayers). It’s an organisation that advocates to support and promote the education, health and wellbeing of Pacific women in New Zealand. Some people may be familiar with the National Māori Women’s Welfare league. This is the equivalent for women of Pacific heritage in Aotearoa.

What role do you have in the organisation?
I’m the current (soon to be outgoing) and Founding President of the West Auckland Branch which was (re)established and launched in 2016 here at Unitec Mt Albert with the support of Manukau, Tamaki East and Auckland Central Branches and the National President at the time Caren Rangi.  My role involves time, lots of listening, fundraising, making food and doing dishes and organising groups of women…on repeat.

Click on the image below to hear Rowena speak about the importance of empowering young Pacific women.

Rowena discussing the Young and Empowered conference that she organised with ‘Pacifika Proud’ in West Auckland, for young Pacific women.

 

 

 

What inspired you to volunteer?
Peggy Fairbairn-Dunlop and prior to that Linda Aumua: two of my mentors in Education.

How did you manage to balance your commitment to P.A.C.I.F.I.C.A. Inc. alongside a life and working at Unitec?
A supportive family, supportive colleagues, supportive network of like-minded women, but most importantly a husband who vacuums, cooks and yep, he does the laundry.

What do you get out of volunteering?
Firstly, working alongside pioneers and women leaders has been a privilege and platform that’s enable me to grow and develop as a leader. P.A.C.I.F.I.C.A. Inc. has a wide network of women from all over Aotearoa, who encourage and support each other’s crazy ideas, like establishing a branch in West Auckland – five years later and countless hours of talking, organising and networking we have an established branch that provides a platform for Young Pacific women to develop and enhance their skills to support the Young women within our community.

One of the most profound things about volunteering for this organisation, is the A word – AWARENESS. It’s the awareness that comes from having networks in this organisation from all sectors of our community, that consistently reminds us of the widening the gap in our society especially here in West Auckland, of those families and individuals who don’t have enough but make do in life. This has helped me hone my skills of networking and negotiation to attract funds to support initiatives in our community.

Volunteering for this organisation helps me feel connected to the community I live in, that my children attend school in…and keeps me grounded.

 

 

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One comment on “Staff who volunteer: Rowena Fuluifaga – Developing as a leader”

  1. Brigette Shutkowski on

    thank you for sharing your story Row. I’m always in awe of the important and amazing work that people like yourself do in our communities.

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