Deputy Principal of Ōtāhuhu College, Moana Va'aelua, is determined to break barriers that Pasifika families face regarding their kids excelling in their education.  

"We aim to give our students everything and anything that allows them to succeed and thrive in the school environment," she says. 

Alongside Va’aelua in the Ōtāhuhu College workforce are six Navigators who work with the different year groups to devise plans for them to achieve specific goals. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the challenges and hardships typically faced by students at Ōtāhuhu College were exacerbated, creating further barriers between them and their education.  

“Our families struggled more because of Covid and over the two lockdowns we were delivering aid to over 500 people.  

This included groceries that catered to Pacific needs and cooking styles, vouchers and laptops for the students as many of them did not have access to their own personal electronic devices to keep up with their school work.” 

 Va'aelua says they value the honesty of their students as it helps them understand what support they need; often it can be difficult to reach out so it is important to build a relationship with students so they are comfortable to ask for help.  

“We start with our students and make our way into the families; we communicate by identifying the needs of our students and sometimes we’re having to supply things that are often taken for granted like money for the laundromat to wash uniforms.  

When we supply our families with such support and resources, they’ll advocate for their neighbours' needs, or others they know because that's the Pasifika mentality. We always want to help everyone else but sometimes forget about our own needs in the process." 

Current and future sustainability is a key attribute at Ōtāhuhu College and one of the ways that PFL funding helped was with supplying laptops and computers for students. Va’aelua says they saw a huge shift in positivity from their students when they received the laptops to support their studies during the lockdowns. Once a student completes year 13, the laptop is returned for updates, technical care and maintenance and reused for the next generation of students.   

Va'aelua says she has high hopes for the student community at Ōtāhuhu College and says it is important to believe in each and every one of them. 

"In the next five years I’d like to see that our kids aren’t being held back by traditional expectations; I want them to have opportunities that are broader. 

We're especially grateful to PFL for providing our students with an extensive range of opportunities that cater to their own personal interests."