A social worker's perspective on Samoa's Tōfā Mamao cultural framework.
Mapusua Fetuao Peleti works for Emerge Aotearoa. He’s the Service Manager for their Mental Health and Addictions Pacific Community Support Team and Mobile Community Support Team in Counties Manukau. He spoke to Nga Vaka about attending the Tōfā Mamao Samoan Cultural Framework training in Manukau.
Mapusua: I have been with Emerge Aotearoa for more than 10 years and in my current role for over 12 months. I enjoy the work that we do because it involves supporting our vulnerable Pacific people who experience mental health challenges. A significant part of my role is making sure that my teams have access to the right information and resources so that people are able to achieve their goals and aspirations.
Q: As a Family Support worker, what were you hoping to learn from the Tōfā Mamao training?
Mapusua: I was hoping to gain more knowledge and learn ways on how to support our Samoan families dealing with family violence.
Q: What are some of the cultural challenges you face in your work when dealing with Pacific clients?
Mapusua: From my work with families and individuals I have experienced from them the challenges of being disconnected from their culture as a result family structures can be dysfunctional. The value of the Vā- the Vā between parents and children, and between the siblings is significant in ensuring that culture values are embedded in families unfortunately this is not happening. Another challenge is, kids growing up in NZ with mixed ethnicities feel they do not belong to a culture and have doubts over their identity and sense of belonging.
Q: How can you apply what you learned in your work to meet those challenges?
Mapusua: I learned from the training that language and culture play a vital role in connecting and trying to engage with the family. Knowing the genealogy, the family or matai names will help when you are making connection during initial meeting. And if you think you are not the right support then seek the right support for the family.
Using the Tōfā Mamao framework, we need to observe, listen, and access the situation with an open mind before making a decision.
Q: Why is it good to learn with other Pacific colleagues who do similar work (other participants not just the facilitators)?
Mapusua: It’s important that we receive the same teachings, information, and learnings. Also, very important that we share our knowledge and wisdom as everyone has different experiences and knowledge. It is about empowerment and upskilling our Pacific workforce as well.
Q: What did you enjoy about the teaching from the facilitators?
I enjoyed that the facilitators talked about real life scenarios and issues. Issues that we can all relate to. It was interactive, engaging that created healthy discussions and debate. It was well facilitated. Also, the ability of the facilitator to draw from our Samoan history/heritage and connect it with the current times and current issues made it so relevant to me personally and professionally. The group discussions were good it allowed us to hear and validate other perspectives and interpretation. I was grateful that the facilitators allowed for the Talanoa to flow without interruptions as to who was wrong or right, the ability to keep our Talanoa within respectful boundaries was good to see.
"Thank you to The Cause Collective for the opportunity for our organisation and our Pacific team to be part of this very important programme. There is always room for learning and sometimes it is about reminding ourselves that there are other ways to support our Pacific families and people.
As a Samoan person the learning of our culture is never individualistic it is truly a collective approach. I learnt that everyone could contribute to each other’s learning and growth, and this training did that for me. I highly recommend this course to be shared with all organisations that support our Pacific communities."