Nikolai Talamahina is a musician, curator, events facilitator and "big energy Aries" and also a transgender Pasifika male.

Every year, during the month of June, the LGBT community celebrates in a number of different ways.  Pride month is an opportunity to raise awareness of current issues facing the community. 

Across the globe, various events are held during this special month as a way of recognising the influence LGBTIQ  people have had around the world.

Nikolai shares how he found his true self with the support of family.

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Every Tuesday on Pacific Days, we’re joined by incredible Pasifika business owners/entrepreneurs, to share their journey in business. 

We’re joined now by musician and songstress Sonny Southon whom some of you may know as the voice behind hit track ‘Falling Through a Cloud’.

Sonny has led a really exciting life as a singer/songwriter, in which she continues now as a founder & owner of The Music Seeds. 

Becoming a mindset coach for artists in the making, Sonny has set up The Music Seeds in hopes of helping musicians establish themselves in the Pacific, NZ Music Industry, and international stage.

For more on The Music Seeds:

www.themusicseeds.com

https://www.instagram.com/themusicseeds/

https://www.sonnysouthon.co.nz/

https://twitter.com/sonnysouthon?lang=en

https://www.linkedin.com/in/sonnysouthon/?originalSubdomain=nz

https://www.instagram.com/sonnysouthon/?hl=en

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The Creative New Zealand’s Playmarket Pasifika Script Advisor Residency 2021 is a new initiative under the Pacific Arts Strategy 2018 – 2023 to grow script advisor skills to develop powerful Pasifika stories for the stage and performing arts.

Manager, Pacific Arts Kawika Aipa at Creative New Zealand joins us now on Pacific Days for more. 

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From a field of 166 entries, the 28 finalists in the 2021 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults are announced today. Across six main categories, these books offer the nation’s young readers a tasty smorgasbord of titles, packed with meaty themes and addictive plot lines.

There are six categories: Picture Book, Junior Fiction (the Wright Family Foundation Esther Glen Award), Young Adult Fiction, Non-Fiction (the Elsie Locke Award), Illustration (the Russell Clark Award) and te reo Māori (the Wright Family Foundation Te Kura Pounamu Award), with up to five finalists selected for each category, and from these a category winner is selected. 

The awards are judged by a panel of five. 

International bestselling author Lani Wendt Young has been named a finalist in the Young Adult Fiction category for her book Fire's Caress (Published by OneTree House), in this years New Zealand Book Awards for Children & Young Adults.

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The launch of Te Hotonga Hapori—an AUT research programme to evaluate the societal impact of Aotearoa’s largest urban redevelopment projects, took place on Friday at AUT in Auckland. 

Te Hotonga Hapori (Connecting Communities), is an AUT research programme to evaluate Kāinga Ora’s multibillion dollar urban redevelopment across Aotearoa.  

Māori advisor  for Te Hotonga Hapori, Professor Tania Ka’ai attended the launch. Tania is Professor of Māori Innovation and Development & Director of Te Ipukarea - The National Maori Language Institute at AUT.

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Lydia and Mahu Mairerkii are the proud owners of Kai and Kutz a Pacific island takeaway food and trendy barbershop in Ashburton.  After spending a few years in the building industry Mahu took a leap of faith and started his own business in 2019.  Despite challenges setting up a business, living through a global pandemic and raising a young family the couple keep fighting the odds. 

Their store is located on 80 Tancred Street, Ashburton, 

They also help mentor Pasifika and Maori Youth as part of their Starfish Enterprise an employment mentoring program.

https://www.facebook.com/KaiandKutz/ 

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Teresa Stanley from Drowning Prevention Auckland Research and Development Team joins us now on Pacific Days, to share her findings about drowning risk among Pasifika and Maori adults.

To read more of Teresa's research please click the following:

Stanley, T., & Moran, K. (2018). Self-estimates of swimming and rescue competence, and the perceptions of the risk of drowning among minority groups in New Zealand – lifesaving or life threatening? Journal of Education and Human Development, 7(1), 82-91. http://jehdnet.com/journals/jehd/Vol_7_No_1_March_2018/10.pdf

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Dr Andrea Teng, Senior Research Fellow, University of Otago Wellington, joins us now on Pacific Days for more on her research on sugary drink taxes, recently published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health.

To read the research in full go to: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34097355/

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A new campaign supporting the Covid-19 vaccination programme is focussing on ethnic and religious communities that, because of misinformation, are fearful of getting vaccinated.

Te Kupenga - Catholic Leadership Institute Chief Executive Dr Areti Metuamate says the ‘Love your neighbour as yourself’ campaign aims to reach people in about 10 ethnic communities and allay fears they may have about the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine.

The campaign, which includes a video and handouts in English, Tongan and Samoan, encourages families to work together for the wellbeing of their community. It also addresses fears people may have.

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Dr Evelyn Imelda Coxon, was awarded the CNZM (Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit) for services to Pacific and tertiary education, as part of the Queens Birthday Honours list 2021.          

Dr Eve Coxon has been involved in Pacific education for almost 40 years and is recognised regionally and internationally. 

During her time at Auckland University, Dr Coxon has established undergraduate and postgraduate courses in Pacific education and Pacific Studies. 

She has supervised 45 PhD or Masters’ theses, the majority authored by Pacific students. She was founding director of the Research Unit in Pacific Education and played a key role in the development of the Rethinking Pacific Education Initiative for Pacific Peoples which has, for more than twenty years, fostered new generations of regional Pacific education leaders. She has undertaken research in a range of Pacific countries, contributed to academic programmes at Pacific universities and authored numerous books, journal articles, book chapters and research reports, mostly in collaboration with Pacific colleagues. She has been appointed to many advisory positions by governments across the region, such as Education Sector Support Advisor to the Tongan Ministry of Education, Policy Advisor to the Samoan Ministry of Education, and New Zealand Representative on the Fiji Education Commission. She has been President of the Oceania Comparative Education Society and since 2016 has held leadership positions on the World Council of Comparative Education Societies. Dr Coxon continues in an honorary position at Auckland University actively supporting students, Pacific education research and researchers.

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