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(Photo:
University of Hawaii) |
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NEW ZEALAND: Pacific Dance Artist in Residence
2011 successful applicant announced
Source:
Pacific Dance New Zealand Press Release
Pacific Dance New Zealand is proud to announce
the successful applicant to the Pacific Dance
Artist in Residence for 2011.
The Auckland-based residency is presented by
Pacific Dance New Zealand in partnership with
Auckland Council, Creative New Zealand and DANZ
(Dance Aotearoa New Zealand).
This exciting eight-week dance residency is
offered to an established New Zealand based
dancer, dance choreographer or a director of
Pacific Island descent with a proven track
record of working in a community and or
professional theatre context.
The successful applicant for 2011 is Keneti
Muaiava.
Keneti is a master dancer specialising in Samoan
dance. He is the co-founder of Vision Cultural
Movement; an organisation that specialises in
the maintenance of Samoan heritage arts &
culture in Aotearoa.
Keneti was also the founder of Legacy Dance
Company, a successful Samoan dance performance
company which took Samoan dance into the
limelight on television’s “New Zealand’s Got
Talent” (2008).
Keneti has had 15 years of Pacific Dance
teaching experience covering New Zealand
promoting, developing and implementing a
successful Pacific dance education programme and
service into schools. He has taught at various
tertiary institutions around the country and has
also taught and choreographed winning
performances in the ASBPolyfest.
Keneti has an extensive personal performance CV
and is currently the resident expert in Samoan
traditional dance choreography at Auckland
University’s Centre for Pacific Studies.
Keneti’s residency project is called “Past,
Present and Future” and is centred around the
teaching and development of three distinct
Samoan dance styles whereby community dancers
will have the opportunity to imbue themselves in
the concepts and culture behind the movements
while also exploring contextual elements making
the dances both “authentic and relevant.”
Sefa Enari, director of Pacific Dance New
Zealand, says he is very pleased with the
calibre of applicants for the residency this
year and is keenly excited to see what Keneti
will produce.
The residency will be carried out in South
Auckland for 8 weeks starting 4th June 2011 and
will culminate in a public showing at Mangere’s
Metro Theatre on Saturday 30th July.
Photo Caption: Successful applicant to
the Pacific Dance Artist in Residence for 2011,
Keneti Muaiava.
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(Photos:
Rugby League Samoa) |
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SAMOA: Rugby League Samoa elects new President
Source:
Rugby
League Samoa Press Release
Rugby League Samoa (RLS) Incorporated at its
annual general meeting at Marist Sports Club,
Lotopa elected with confidence their Vice
President / Finance Governor, Tagaloalagi
Faafouina Su'a as their new President.
Former President since Rugby League
re-established in March 2006, Mr Peter Paul was
very happy for his Deputy taking-up the
challenge as he stepped down due to family and
health reasons.
"I'm
very confident with Su'a, he has a great vision
for rugby league and knows what's required to
take our sport further," said Paul.
RLS Executives 2011-2016:
President / Chairman Elect: Tagaloalagi
Faafouina Su'a
Vice President / Chairman: Peter Franklin Paul
Jr.
Secretary General: Tuimatafele Masuisui Fritz
Tuiavii
Treasurer: Pauga Fata Talalelei Pauga
2nd
Treasurer: Laufiso Lautofa Unasa
Photo Caption: Former President Mr Peter
Franklin Paul and newly elected President
Tagaloalagi Faafouina Su'a sharing confidence.
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(Photos:
Australia-Pacific Technical College) |
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AUSTRALIA: Student 'family' prepared to be
agents of change
Source:
Australia-Pacific Technical College
The twenty-three Diploma for Community Services
Work students, from Kiribati, Marshall Islands,
Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Fiji, who
studied at the Fiji Campus, have come to see
themselves as a family, and as agents of change.
Celebrating eighteen months of hard work at
their end-of-course function, Mr Isara Ione of
Samoa made a speech of thanks on behalf of his
classmates, "this big happy family," and said,
"Let me take this precious moment to express our
heart-felt gratitude, and our sincere
appreciation to the Management, and all the
supporting staff of APTC, for this golden
opportunity. Thank you all for giving us this
chance to realise our dreams, to be agents of
change. Thank you for your professional advice
and guidance that has made this course a great
success."
In thanking APTC Trainer Ms Eilleen Olney, Mr
Ione spoke of how the students would remember
her for the time she spent with them, "the time
you nurtured seeds for the development of
families, communities and nations throughout the
Pacific."
Ms Olney said that the students would return to
their workplaces in their home countries, in a
variety of community welfare settings, such as
corrections centres and prisons, NGOs working
with marginalised people, government departments
and charitable organisations
Joining the students on this occasion of
celebration and farewell were special guests His
Excellency Mr Peter Eafeare, Papua New Guinea
High Commissioner to Fiji and Kiribati, and Mrs
Alice Eafeare; Ms Tina Seniloli, AusAID APTC
Program Manager, and Mr Anthony Bailey, Fiji
Country Manager APTC Schools of Health and
Community Services and Tourism and Hospitality.
Photo Captions:
Photo 1 - Trainer Eilleen Olney farewells
student Ione.
Photo 2 - Diploma students celebrate the
end of the course.
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HAWAII: Mosquito repellent purchased to prevent
spread of Dengue Fever on Maui
Source:
The Hawaii Independent
The Maui County Mayor’s Office is pleased to
announce the purchase of nearly $3,000 worth of
mosquito repellent as a caution against the
spread of dengue fever.
Mayor Alan Arakawa personally authorized the
purchase from Maui Distributors last week. As
soon as the shipment of repellent comes in it
will handed over to Maui District Health
Officer, Dr. Lorrin Pang for use in East Maui.
“We’ve faced dengue once before and managed to
keep it under control,” said Mayor Alan Arakawa.
“Now we have a chance to stop it before it even
starts so I am happy to assist Dr. Pang in any
way.”
“This repellent will be crucial in containing
dengue fever,” said Dr. Pang. “Since the dengue
virus must pass through a human being, we can
break the cycle by preventing people from
getting bitten by infected mosquitoes or keeping
mosquitoes from biting infected people.
The repellent will protect both infected human
beings and mosquitoes from each other.”
The repellent will be handed out to tourists and
residents in East Maui - particularly in Upper
Nihiku and Hana where the mosquito population is
greatest - and should be enough for the summer
visitor crowd. Pang estimated that he needed
about a $1,000 worth of repellent a month.
The County also thanked the Maui Visitor’s
Bureau and the Visitor Aloha Society of Hawaii (VASH)
for being the first to step up and buy Dr. Pang
about $1,000 worth of repellent last month. The
VASH program is a visitors’ assistance program
that is funded by Hawai’i Tourism Authority and
administered through Maui Visitors Bureau.
The County hopes other organizations will also
donate money for repellent. The Maui Hotel and
Lodging Association has already committed at
least $500 for future repellent purchases.
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(Photo: New
Zealand Defence Force) |
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VANUATU: New Zealand Defence Force performs
surgeries in Vanuatu
Source:
New Zealand Defence Force Press
Release
NZ Defence Force personnel in Vanuatu for the
US-led Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Relief (HADR)
exercise Pacific Partnership, have deployed the
Forward Surgical Team (FST) to reduce the
backlog of the local population requiring
surgery.
The FST has completed approximately 25 surgeries
in Luganville Hospital, assisting the resident
locum Dr Fred Merchant, who welcomed the FST and
Pacific Partnership to Vanuatu.
“The NZ FST is a professional team who are well
trained, well equipped and are doing a great
job. Being from the USA it’s also great to see
some of my countrymen again,” he said.
The FST is land, sea and air transportable and
is designed to provide immediate and emergency
treatment to receive, triage, provide
preoperative resuscitation, resuscitative
surgery, post operative nursing care and prepare
casualties for the next level of medical care.
It utilises the skills of a pool of Civilian
Volunteer Health Specialists (CVHS) from within
the public health sector of NZ and draws from
the Ministry of Health pharmaceutical supplies.
Major Burton King is a General Surgeon from
Wellington hospital currently deployed as part
of the team, and said that everyone has been
kept busy.
“We are seeing a full range of general surgery
from lumps and bumps to hernias, infections and
breast cancer. We have also conducted a number
of emergency cases as well.”
Recent natural disasters including the tsunami
in Samoa, cyclones in the Cook Islands and Fiji,
earthquakes in NZ and the combined earthquake
and tsunami in Japan has reinforced the need for
the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) to be
prepared to provide immediate humanitarian aid
and disaster relief.
Within 24 hours of the 23 February earthquake in
Christchurch, the FST was deployed to provide
additional surgical assistance to the
Christchurch hospital. Major King was also
deployed to help in that response, and says that
exercises such as Pacific Partnership are
essential for the NZ Defence Force to remain
prepared.
“Pacific Partnership is a fantastic opportunity
to exercise the FST, test their systems and
procedures to ensure the team can rapidly
mobilise and deploy to any country struck by a
natural disaster and provide humanitarian aid.”
Pacific Partnership is a US-led humanitarian and
disaster relief (HADR) exercise carried out with
partner nations throughout the Pacific. The
exercise aims to increase interoperability and
this year HMNZS CANTERBURY is serving as a
primary platform delivering medical, dental,
veterinary and engineering services.
New Zealand’s contribution to Pacific
Partnership has focussed on the nations of Tonga
and Vanuatu, with the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs and Trade supporting the development
work with approximately $500,000 of funding from
the New Zealand Aid Programme.
Photo Caption: MAJ Graham Sharpe,
Anaesthetist, MAJ Burton King, Surgeon, and CVHS
Janine Weils, Nurse, performing surgery at
Lunganville Town Hospital, Vanuatu.
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WORLDWIDE: US President's decision on Treaty of
Rarotonga welcomed
Source:
Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat Press
Release
The Secretary General of the Pacific Islands
Forum Secretariat, Tuiloma Neroni Slade warmly
welcomes United States President Obama’s
decision to seek Senate consent to ratify the
South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty
protocols.
The South Pacific Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone
Treaty, more commonly known as the Treaty of
Rarotonga, was opened for signature on 6 August
1985 in Rarotonga, Cook Islands and entered into
force on 11 December 1986. The Treaty prohibits
the possession, use, or testing of any nuclear
explosive device by any State party and the
dumping of any radioactive waste in the zone.
“We are very pleased by this development,” said
Mr Slade. “The Treaty of Rarotonga represents an
unified approach by Forum Members in fulfilling
their commitments under Article VII of the
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). The
Treaty also represents a very significant
achievement and contribution of the Pacific
Islands Forum towards ongoing efforts to
strengthen global security and the international
non-proliferation regime.
“If approved by Senate, the US will join other
the nuclear weapons States that have ratified
the Treaty protocols, as well as the Treaty
Parties, in further strengthening the South
Pacific’s status as a nuclear-weapon-free zone.
Forum Member countries are deeply committed to
world peace and security, and have renounced for
themselves the manufacture, acquisition and
possession of nuclear explosive devices.
“As one of the few regions in the world to have
experienced nuclear weapons testing, I am
pleased to say that we here at the Secretariat
welcome and fully support President Obama’s
vision of a world without nuclear weapons,” said
the Secretary General.
The operation of the South Pacific
nuclear-free-zone is enhanced by three Protocols
to the Treaty of Rarotonga that were opened for
signature in 1986. Through these Protocols,
nuclear weapons States have undertaken to apply
the Treaty of Rarotonga to their territories in
the Pacific region (Protocol 1); to refrain from
the use or threat of nuclear explosive devices
against any party (Protocol II); and not to test
any nuclear explosive devices within the Zone
(Protocol III).
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