NEWSPAGE 10 May
2010

(Photo: Pacific Scoop)

(Photos: Australian High Commission)

SAMOA: Lalomanu Primary School receives new equipment
Source: Australian High Commission Press Release

Staff and students at Lalomanu Primary School today received school desks and chairs, along with a drinking water fountain, thanks to funding from the Australian Government.

Australia provided around $44,000 to the school which included $10,500 for building materials for the construction of a drinking fountain and a grant of nearly $33,500 for new desks and chairs.

Australian High Commissioner to Samoa, Matt Anderson visited the school today to officially hand over the equipment.

“Following the tsunami, Australia changed its small grant funding focus to support groups from tsunami affected areas. While Lalomanu School was unaffected, it is currently supporting additional students from neighbouring villages that were affected by the tsunami,” Mr Anderson said.

“The extra equipment and drinking fountain will help the school cater for the increased student numbers and be a very important way to help minimise health hazards caused by lack of clean water.”

“This investment in school facilities and equipment is also an investment in the future generation of young Samoans to support them in their education,” Mr Anderson said.

The funding was made through the High Commissioner’s Direct Aid Program (DAP) and the AusAID Small Grants Program which support small scale community activities. Lalomanu Primary School also received $12,000 for a security fence, gate and water tank in 2006.
 

(Photo: Department of the Interior)

AMERICAN SAMOA: Nikolao Pula to speak at ASCC graduation on May 14th
Source: American Samoa Community College Press Release

The American Samoa Community College (ASCC) will hold its 52nd commencement ceremony on Friday, May 14th, at 10 a.m. in the Gymnasium. The ASCC Admission and Records Office estimates that 101 students will receive their degrees and certificates during the spring graduation, although the final number will depend on the results of this semester’s final examinations.

ASCC always invites a distinguished guest to provide the keynote speech at graduation, and this semester the College is proud to welcome Nikolao Pula, the first individual of Samoan ancestry ever to serve as a Career (Senior Executive Service) Director of the Office of Insular Affairs (OIA) of the Department of the Interior (DOI) in Washington, D.C. As the OIA Director, Pula carries out the Secretary’s responsibilities in the insular areas and the freely associated states. The OIA is the Executive Branch's liaison organization with four of the five principal U.S. insular areas (American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands) and the three freely associated states (the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia and Palau).

As OIA Director, Pula is responsible for the general policies regarding insular affairs and oversight of federal activities. During his tenure with OIA, he also served as a policy desk officer from August 1993 to July 2000 and Acting Director from January 2001 to June 2002. Prior to his tenure with DOI, Pula worked for eleven years on Capitol Hill as a Special Assistant for Senator Daniel K. Inouye (D-Hawaii), Legislative Assistant for Congressman Fofo I.F. Sunia (D-Am. Samoa), Staff Director for the Subcommittee on Public Building and Grounds for the House Committee on Public Works and Transportation, and also worked for the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms.

A graduate of the Marist Brothers' School in American Samoa and Menlo College in Atherton, California, Pula has pursued further studies at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, and George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. He is the youngest son of the renowned Tofa Pula Nikolao Iuli Tuiteleleapaga, Sr., one of the founders of the public school system in American Samoa.

“We feel greatly honored that Mr. Pula will join us to share his wisdom and experiences with our graduates, and we look forward to his address,” said ASCC Dean of Student Services Dr. Emilia Le’i.

Photo Caption: ASCC will welcome Nikolao Pula, Career (Senior Executive Service) Director of the Office of Insular Affairs of the Department of the Interior in Washington, D.C., as the special guest speaker at the College's spring 2010 graduation ceremony on Friday, May 14th.
 

(Photo: Northern Rivers Tourism)

COOK ISLANDS: New tourism head excited about industry’s future
Source: Cook Islands News

Newly appointed CI Tourism chief executive Carmel Beattie will take up the two year position early next month.

Tourism board chairman Tata Crocombe announced the appointment, saying that Beattie brings to the Cook Islands a wealth of knowledge on international markets, destination marketing and development and a strong international network of contacts that will prove invaluable to the fulfilment of the industry’s vision for tourism in the Cook Islands.

Originally from Brisbane, Beattie has lived in Sydney for the past 12 years and while she loves the city, is extremely excited at the prospect of relocating to the Cook Islands.

“I am honoured to be chosen for this role in such a spectacular destination and am looking forward to starting to work with the board, the industry, our partners and the community to bring the board’s tourism vision to reality.

“It is not often that someone is afforded an opportunity such as this and this is one of the reasons that I am committed to destination marketing.

“To have the chance to facilitate a destination’s growth, to work with the industry to provide employment and training opportunities for the people of the Cook Islands, to mentor the youth to ensure a strong succession plan for Tourism in the country and to provide economic benefit to the community at large is such a privilege and to do all that in paradise is a dream!”

Beattie comes to the role from Tourism New South Wales where she is group manager international markets. Currently managing seven offices across the world, a multi-million dollar budget, the development and ongoing management of over 12 international airline partnerships, tactical campaigns in all major markets and the development and promotion of the NSW tourism products and experiences, she will bring this expertise and her international insights to the Cook Islands role.

“I think the very first thing I want to do is sit down with the team, complete the team for instance the new roles that we have to bring in and work with the team.

“The team here but also the board and the broader industry, to further develop our vision, to actually put pen to paper to develop the strategy further. And then look specifically at what segments we want to target in each market really bring the vision of the board to life.”

Beattie says she wants to work closely with the industry as well and would like the wider community to see that they are very much part of tourism.

“That tourism in the Cook Islands is about every Cook Islander being part of it. It has a positive effect on everyone’s life, and we have to make sure that it stays a positive effect.”

Photo Caption: Newly appointed Cook Islands Tourism Chief Executive Carmel Beattie.
 

FIJI: Scenario building for peace
Source: United Nation Development Programme Press Release

Scenario building, adopted from military tactics, is actually a widely used technique in peace building. Participants at a regional peace building workshop discussed what scenario building was and how it applied to peace and conflict analysis in their different country contexts.

Workshop facilitator, Yvonne Shanahan explained that scenario building represents a collective understanding of possible outcomes from a status quo situation. The outcome could go towards the best case scenario or slip towards the worst case scenario. Scenario building was also tied to time lines.

Working within their country groups, participants at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Pacific Centre organised workshop examined conflicts in their countries and built scenarios. More than fifty participants from Bougainville, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Tonga, who are representatives from governments, non government organizations, private sector and development partners, are part of the workshop.

“In the Solomon Islands, about 75% of our population is made up of youths and most of them are unemployed,” explained Sycamore Foundation’s Wilson Ne’e. Sycamore Foundation is a non government organization working on reconciliation in Solomon Islands.

“An education system that gives students basic education up to the secondary level, new job opportunities and overall good governance could defuse the potential for conflicts. This was our best case scenario.”

“On the other hand, in a worst case scenario, our group identified that increasing school drop outs and youth unemployment can further accelerate the potential for conflict,” said Mr. Ne’e.
Other groups’ best case scenarios also included electoral system changes and increased women in Parliament as catalysts for peace.

The workshop noted that factors such as the sudden outbreak of disease can influence the way in which conflict develops.

The workshop, which ends on May 11, is part of the Strengthening Capacities for Peace and Development in the Pacific project. It’s objectives are to strengthen the cadre of peace practitioners from the Pacific whose work and approach will hopefully be further strengthened through skills building, up-scaled policy interventions, the regional sharing of good practices and effective peace building mechanisms suited to the Pacific - and through improved access to resources and experts made available through a peace-net portal supported by the project. One of the key issues is not to duplicate work being done at the regional level or the national level, but rather to complement and add resources to current initiatives.
 

WORLDWIDE: Tsunami relief aid goes to support school damaged by the tsunami
Source: National Pacific Islander Educator Network Press Release

The National Pacific Islander Educator Network (NPIEN) and Together Samoa are partnering to help support the reconstruction of Saleapaga Primary School in Samoa. According to the Samoa Observer, the village of Saleapaga lost over 30 people, most of them children, who were sleeping in the child care center when the tsunami struck. Edwin Puni of eventpolynesia.com, a media and marketing partner of NPIEN, brought the Saleapaga story to the attention of the NPIEN Board of Directors. NPIEN established a Tsunami Education Relief Fund to specifically support a school in need damaged by the tsunami. Several sponsors came forward, including MSP Architects, Long Beach, CA, the Long Beach City College Pacific Islander Club, and the Chapman University Hawaiian Club.

Together Samoa is a group of young Samoan Americans that has already donated $3,000 to the Help Samoa Disaster Relief Coalition (Help Samoa) disaster relief efforts through a creative fundraiser, wristband sales. The wristbands include the message “Together Samoa” and “One Love, One Goal,” and have been purchased by people across the United States. As co-founder Nemaia Satele noted, “Though public attention of the tsunami’s impact has waned, we recognize the great need to continue advocating and raising funds on behalf of our brothers and sisters back home. We continually thank the community for believing in the rebuilding efforts and pray collectively with those back home for healing.”

Together Samoa will donate $4,000 to NPIEN’s Tsunami Education Relief Fund.

Together Samoa will also continue to raise funds for a school impacted by the tsunami, concentrating their next fundraising efforts on much needed supplies for Niuatoputapu High School in Niua, Tonga.

For more information, visit www.togethersamoa.com.