Introduction
It was an immediate nod to accept the chance to contribute to this collection that seeks to acknowledge and honour the mahi (work) of Fa’anānā Efeso Collins, MP (1974-2024). The late Fa’anānā Efeso Collins was more than a trailblazer and Pacific leader in Aotearoa New Zealand. He was a son of Samoa and Ōtara 274 Southside. Despite the briefest of careers in national politics, he was an esteemed leader of great mana, with an impactful life that spanned local politics, health and education. Efeso was a fierce advocate for Pacific communities, particularly from South Auckland, and left an indelible mark on families, and, in particular, youth development practice and discourse (see Farruggia et al., 2011).
Among the South Auckland community, the late Fa’anānā, Fes or Efeso was often described as a ‘heavy hitter’ in most spaces. He was widely respected and, at the time of his death, was referred to as one of the great fallen Tōtara trees in our Pacific community. As a proud member of the Ōtara community, I believe that my friend, the late Son of Samoa and Ōtara, would have been pleased for me to write a piece about our shared and important ‘heart’ work for transformative outcomes for tupulaga (Samoan youth) and rangatahi (Māori youth).
I centre the writing of this piece on our shared pride in Ōtara and our shared experiences that influence our tautua (service) for youth mentoring as a youth development strategy. Efeso loved young people, or tupulaga-rangatahi, as he referred to them in his maiden speech to Parliament, in a way that was very much reflective of a pedagogy of the heart (Freire, 1997). Like the Brazilian educator and philosopher Paulo Freire, Efeso had a specific teaching approach in his interactions with students in higher education and youth mentoring. His approach was underpinned by tautua (service) alongside alofa (love and hospitality) for Pasifika and Māori tupulaga-rangatahi (see Ualesi, 2024). Tautua is a Samoan concept that refers to servanthood, serving one’s ‘aiga (family), nu’u (village) or wider community. Enactment of tautua (service) both formally and informally does not exist in a vacuum; rather, Efeso exemplified how to serve and thus lead well, and to mirror our va relationships across ‘aiga, our churches, schools, sports groups, kava circles, and the many other social and cultural circles in which we ‘do’ life.
I share my insights about how Efeso inspired me and many young people in Ōtara to walk humbly, listen more and speak less. He was a leader and servant in one and certainly a reflection of tautua. Efeso was always devoted and committed to loving the square pegs, the misfits, the forgotten, the unloved and invisible of society (New Zealand Parliament, 2024). We both believed in the potential of our tupulaga-rangatahi because we resonated so much with our young people in our own ‘hood’ of #274, Ōtara – brimming with rich, multi-ethnic culture, yet often portrayed by media and past governments as a place of no hope. Efeso and I were both proud Otarians.
Positionality
I am a research-active university lecturer based in South Auckland and grew up in Ōtara. Over 55 years later, the house in which I grew up remains the original family home base. My positionality influences this writing in that both myself and Efeso shared many connections – both personally through Ōtara and professionally, particularly in higher education. The invitation to contribute to this collection in honour of Efeso was challenging. I am overcome by a deluge of emotion. Efeso would have laughed at my self-doubt and said, ‘Are you serious? Get over it, Yvonne, and write.’ Similarly, someone I admire once said to me ‘If not you, Yvonne, then who?’ and that really struck me, and so – I tell my story. Efeso and I were both tusitala (storytellers); some might even say fiapoko (know-it-alls). In a way, that makes sense, given that our ancestors crisscrossed the largest expanse of ocean, Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa. Efeso and I shared places, names, and many connections, some of which I capture in this poem.
Ōtara, I am a Daughter of
The Place of Tara
A Daughter of Samoa, Tokelau and Fiji
Ōtara, I belong here yet beyond the expanse of the great vasa
Home of the Scorpions, Ngāti Ōtara, Ōtamariki Park and the old ET Tavern
OMAC musos superstars OMC, Ermehn and Sisters Underground
Ōtara, kids of the ’70s and ’80s who made Te Puke Ōtara home
Fast bikes, fast food, home of the OG fleamarket on a Saturday morning
Smashing back steak and egg rolls, inhaling the smell of Kuki Raro donuts,
Ōtara, where we got stuck playing in the creek
No, not the ‘chopping centre’ or the place of ‘Once Were Warriors’
I come from #274, a.k.a. The Promised Land, a.k.a. Southside, till I die
Ōtara, the melting pot of Pasifika and Māori
I wonder if Te Ākitai and Tara-Te-Irirangi are just as proud as we all are
I am a Daughter of Ōtara
Youth Mentoring, Pasifika-Style
Efeso was often called upon for his expertise in Pacific knowledge and communities. He was part of many PhD theses and also a big part of my doctoral journey (see Ualesi, 2021). Both of us were born in 1974 and thus shared many community, familial and social networks. We were both staunch advocates of the potentially transformative power of education in the context of youth mentoring and adolescent development. Efeso was known in many circles, from local to national politics, activism and being a published academic were among many hats he wore, across many communities. We were both academics from the same ‘hood, born and growing up in Ōtara to working-class immigrant parents with Samoan and Tokelauan whakapapa.
As Pacific peoples, we value the collective and ‘sharing’ even if it means sharing the load, including the highs and lows of academic life. We shared the Samoan value of tautua or servant leadership and our Tokelauan value of inati, the practice of sharing and collective responsibility. Through tautua and inati, Efeso was often seen as a contemporary Pacific Navigator who believed in the power of equal access to education, and we were both active contributors at different points for the New Zealand Youth Mentoring Network (2019). There is a Samoan proverb that appropriately exemplifies Efeso and his ethic of care to help our youth: O le ala ile pule o le tautua (‘the pathway to leadership is through service’), which indeed signalled he was here to help, and he continues to impact our community through his legacy.
Ōtara 274: Southside Hard, Home of the Brave
Most Otarians, particularly those who were Pacific, had a particular vernacular, as the above heading shows. Growing up in Ōtara was a unique experience, and we either were ourselves or knew someone close to us who grew up rough or had some form of rugged life where life’s challenges felt ‘raw’ hitting you to your core. As Otarians and to others, Ōtara is known as the ‘Home of the Brave.’ That said, we also had wonderful families and communities filled with alofa (love) and laughter. Those mixed experiences made us who we are today: resilient and eager to blaze our paths. As a trailblazer, Efeso was known for his fierce and unapologetic stance on his commitment to his community and family. He regularly spoke out on several platforms about issues concerning people from his beloved (neighbour)hood of Ōtara and the wider region of Southside hard (South Auckland).
Efeso reminded us to serve. He left us a legacy to continue to serve and to help in our capacities of leadership journeys, whether in our own families, our community councils, boards of trustees, advisory groups or community spaces. No truer words reflect the late Fa’anānā Efeso Collins, who spoke so eloquently, than when he said, ‘I’ve come to this House to help.’ He was always helping and inspiring others, including myself. In his maiden speech, he stated:
If I was to inspire anyone by getting to this House and my work over the next three years, I hope that it’s the square pegs, the misfits, the forgotten, the unloved, the invisible – it’s the dreamers who want more, expect more, are impatient for change.
Looking back to when he delivered those words, I cannot be sure that Efeso knew that those specific words in his maiden speech would be so impactful. Anyone who is Pacific will know that when entering another person’s fale (house) as a visitor, you don’t sit around waiting to be served. Rather, you enter, knowing that, sooner rather than later, you will get up, go to the kitchen and do the dishes. You serve constantly through your actions and speech without expectations of the host. That is the fa’aSamoa way, and very much the Pacific way, in Tonga, Niue, Fiji, Tokelau, Tuvalu, Kiribati and tangata whenua Māori. As products of migrant dreamers, we must continue to want and expect more, too.
Walking the Talk: Leaving a Wero
Efeso was in the business of amplifying the voices of the square pegs, misfits and forgotten. He walked his talk actively, seeking out the unloved and invisible. Even when he was campaigning for Mayoralty, knocking on doors, he would always stop to talk to people. We had a serendipitous encounter in 2016 at my home. In typical fashion, Fes hit the pavement, ensuring that ‘our people’ had their voting papers for the upcoming local Manukau ward elections, which he would win, six years before his journey to Parliament in 2024. In my eyes, Efeso left a wero (challenge) to make each day count. As a dreamer and daughter of Ōtara, from migrant Pacific parents, how might I not only make each day count but also ensure that my tautua is impactful? That’s who Fes was: a powerhouse in our community. His words made an impact on most people who knew him. Reflecting on Efeso’s passion for helping, he reminds me daily to reflect and ask myself, how am I helping, and what impact am I making in the academy or community?
Efeso has forced me to think deeply about deliberate work. To take O-Town or Ōtara wherever I go, to conferences nationally and internationally, and in my work through academic research and publication. In our laughter about our immediate connections through siblings, family friends, and the diasporic extended contemporary village in which we both grew up, he would remind me to remember our ‘why.’ Our shared ‘why’ or purpose was always ‘aiga – family. Certainly, FOE, which stands for ‘family over everything,’ has always been evident in his own life. Efeso was a family man, and at the centre of his life was his beautiful wife, Fia, and their girls.
Concluding Thoughts
I have penned this piece to honour our dear friend Efeso and the imprint his tautua and alofa to practice would leave on my own life today as a Pacific academic and daughter of Ōtara – Southside hard. We often joked and mocked each other, and if I asked Fes to do something like sit on a committee, he would say, ‘Sure thing, Sis.’ He invited my husband and me to prayer meetings and to his mayoral campaign dinner. Reciprocity, support and our faith were common ground. We would remind each other that if we were going to say something, ‘Hey, say it with your chest,’ to signal pride and an unapologetic desire to transform our own community with our own solutions for our youth.
Since Efeso’s unexpected passing in early 2024, I have often reflected on the ‘why’ of our shared dreams in the context of higher education. I think of the legacy he leaves for his daughters and future grandchildren to continue the heart work he led in our Pacific communities. As a Pacific/Pasifika academic, I’ll continue our shared work because we innately know that groups of our young people, our Pasifika youth, are still here in the mighty Ōtara 274, rough, rugged and raw, navigating life. That work is often close to home, certainly in our own ‘aiga, extended family and community groups today. That work requires us to continue to be the home of the brave. To do the heart work.
References
Farruggia, S. P., Bullen, P., Davidson, J., Dunphy, A., Solomon, F., & Collins, E. (2011). The effectiveness of youth mentoring programmes in New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Psychology, 40(3), 52–70. https://www.psychology.org.nz/journal-archive/Farruggia.pdf
Freire, P. (1997). Pedagogy of the heart. Continuum.
New Zealand Parliament. (2024). Maiden Statement: Fa’anānā Efeso Collins. https://www.parliament.nz/mi/pb/hansard-debates/rhr/combined/HansDeb_20240215_20240215_52/
New Zealand Youth Mentoring Network. (2019). Sharing the kaupapa: Quality relationships in youth mentoring workbook. https://www.youthmentoring.org.nz/content/docs/GYM/Sharing%20the%20Kaupapa%20Workshop%20Booklet%20Series%20Two_low%20res%20web%20ready.pdf
Ualesi, Y. (2021). Culturally responsive, sustaining and safe youth mentoring practice in Aotearoa New Zealand: A va relational approach [Unpublished doctoral thesis]. University of Auckland. https://hdl.handle.net/2292/57825
Ualesi, Y. M. (2024). Lessons from a va relational approach: Embedding Indigenous constructs for classroom practice. New Zealand Journal of Educational Studies, 59(1), 125-139. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40841-024-00316-8
yvonne.ualesi@aut.ac.nz