Pacific Waves

A phone helpline for women experiencing violence in Papua New Guinea says thousands have used the service but the problem continues to affect nearly every woman in the country at some point during her lifetime; Samoa will become the latest country to ban all single-use plastics from next year; UN relief team trucks on with relief efforts in PNG Highlands, and; Pacific Dance Festival in Auckland grows to include new works.

Pasifika elderly care is the focus of a new study in New Zealand; Polynesian tattoos, using four computer symbols; we speak to those behind PNG's only toll-free domestic violence helpline; and, an Auckland Pacific dance festival, now in its third year, goes international.

A new study aims to explore the experiences, challenges and needs of Pasifika families caring for their elderly or matua and find out whether the traditional way is under threat.

A Samoan artist is creating Polynesian designs and tattoos using just four computer keyboard characters.

The Pacific Dance Festival in Auckland, now in its third year, attracted international talent for the first time. The festival headlined a mix of traditional and contemporary talents and provides a Pacific platform for new and emerging work. Workshops, film screenings, and a Pacific dance costume exhibition were also on show.

China's broadcasting foray into the Pacific is helped by an Australian withdrawal; a new mobile health clinic for the Cook Islands kicks off today; new reports cards aim to make the science of climate change more user-friendly; and, a Wellington writers' residence for Pasifika writers.

China is making a concerted foray into radio broadcasting in the Pacific Islands, and is taking up a lot of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's former shortwave radio frequencies into the region.

Rarotonga in the Cook Islands will have a new mobile health clinic servicing the island's thirteen thousand people, a first for the region.

A new Pacific Marine Climate Change Report Card has been produced recently in Samoa as part of World Oceans Day activities to highlight the current science on the state of the Pacific Ocean.

Applications open for new Pacific writer residency in Wellington for 2019.