Celebration to mark success of Teresia Teaiwa fund
Supporters of the Teresia Teaiwa Memorial Scholarship Fund joined Va‘aomanū Pasifika staff to enjoy a celebration marking the success of the Fund.
On Thursday 17 September, supporters of the Teresia Teaiwa Memorial Scholarship Fund joined Va’aomanū Pasifika’s new home in Old Kirk to enjoy a warm, relaxed evening of celebration and gratitude marking the success of the fund, which will now support one undergraduate and one postgraduate scholarship each year in perpetuity.
The evening acknowledged the students the fund has supported thus far, inaugural recipient Alilia (Tupou) Parker, and this year’s recipients Esther Patu and Kaitlin Abbott. It also acknowledged the effort expended to get the fund to not only reach its goal but surpass it, and what it would mean to Teresia herself.
Concluding the evening's formalities on a high note were the guests of honour—this year’s scholarship holders. Undergraduate recipient Esther Patu (Bachelor of Arts in Pacific Studies and a Bachelor of Laws in International Business) offered heartfelt testament to what the support means for her before performing the powerful spoken work piece they developed for Akamai 2019 with fellow Pacific Studies and Law student, Luisa-Tafu Tauri-Tei. Then the inaugural postgraduate recipient, Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Pacific Studies student Kaitlin Abbott, spoke about what the support—and Pacific Studies in general—has meant for her.
It was a wonderful opportunity to take a moment out of a very difficult year to share words, music, poetry and food and drink, to foster some collective joy, to thank our broad and supportive community, and to celebrate the students and scholarship recipients who will carry Teresia’s legacy long into the future.