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A Place to Inspire Pasifika Voyages
“Ose nofoaga e unaina, fa’amalosia ma tapenaina ai lumana’i manuia”
“E nga-’i no te akaora, i te Teretere’anga o te au Vaka Pasifika”
“E vakavure vakasama ni sasaga kei na toso ki liu ni veiyanuyanu”
“Ko e kaina mo fakaohooho aki e tau halavaka he Atu Pasifika”
“Ko e feitu’u ke ne tataki ‘a e fononga kakai Pasifiki”
Manukau Institute of Technology has a strategic goal of providing an iconic structure with facilities that will serve not only the educational, cultural and social needs of Pasifika students at MIT but also be the focal point for the Pasifika communities of the southern Auckland region. The centre will involve the whole community in an holistic approach to learning and engagement fostering Pasifika identity and providing an inclusive and supportive pathway for Pasifika peoples who wish to further themselves through tertiary education and the families and communities that support them.
THE PASIFIKA CENTRE WILL FULFIL CRITICAL FUNCTIONS
The role of a Pasifika Centre at Manukau Institute of Technology is …
to be a central place for Pasifika students to be supported and to support others
There are 5,000 Pasifika students at Manukau Institute of Technology. The Pasifika Centre will be a focus for support programmes,for special initiatives such as learning communities of the PacificSTEP Programme and for the activities of Pasifika student groups.
to provide a further set of facilities for the Pasifika communities of Counties Manukau
There are facilities in the Counties Manukau Region associated with churches and other organisations. The Pasifika Centre would not seek to replicate these but rather to complement them by providing educational facilities that can be used in conjunction with the rest of the Institute.
to be a home for MIT’s Pasifika Community Advisory Board and its related forums
The MIT Pasifika Community Advisory Board (PCAB) has a commitment to working with the Pasifika communities of Counties Manukau to assist the Institute to meet the educational needs of Pasifika communities. The Pasifika Centre is a key venue for the communities to be welcomed into MIT by the PCAB and for consultations to take place. The PCAB has established three Pasifika Community Forums that are vehicles for more focused consultation and advice. These are focused on Education (and Pasifika teachers), Pasifika Churches (and their ministers plus church leaders) and Pasifika Organisations (and their representatives). The Pasifika Centre would be home to these forums for their regular meetings and for a variety of ways in which these MIT Pasifika forums might choose to work with their respective communities.
to provide a home for Pasifika Studies and related courses and programmes
The Pasifika Centre is not only for pastoral and community functions. A strategic goal of Manukau Institute of Technology is to ensure that Pasifika options are available to students studying at the Institute. Pasifika performing arts, fine arts, music and languages would be able to be taught in the centre. Students studying for qualifications in such areas as business, social work, education and communications might have programmes aimed at a Pasifika dimension taught in the Pasifika Centre.
to play a role in Pasifika Development
Pasifika Development requires an interdisciplinary and inter-agency approach that brings together the skills, knowledge and understandings of a wide range of people. The Pasifika Centre would be an ideal centre for such activity to be located in Counties Manukau.
to complement the facilities available at Manukau Institute of Technology
Manukau Institute of Technology is a major resource for Counties Manukau. Located in the largest Pasifika region in the world, The Pasifika Centre would be a major stimulus for enhanced facilities and activities. It could also be designed to complement the existing facilities at MIT by being able to host conferences and be a Pasifika location for graduations and celebrations of Pasifika success.
The Pasifika Centre will be situated to the north of the MIT’s main entrance at Gate 12. This entrance to the campus will be marked by three building complexes of great symbolic significance. To the south is the Nga- Kete Wa - nanga Marae complex reflecting MIT’s commitment to Tangata Whenua; to the north, the Pasifika Centre which will be the educational focus for the Pasifika communities of Manukau; to the east, the Dilworth Centre which relates to the historic presence of Pakeha in Otara and is the MIT Executive office. This is the Gateway Project.
The ‘La’ Concept
The Pasifka Centre concept was developed by Charmaine ‘Ilaiu. A young local Tongan, Architectural Historian, the world’s first Tongan Masters in Architecture, 1st Class Honours Graduate.
The concept of three la or sails for MIT’s Pasifika centre reflects my own educational journey beginning with my parents. As migrants from Tonga, they arrived in Aotearoa to create opportunities for their eight children, including education. Certainly, the centre’s iconic buildings represent familiar aspirations of many other families. It is my hope that the Centre reflects such dreams inspiring today’s generation of learners towards great futures.”
Charmaine ‘Ilaiu
