Raki Ap grew up in the Netherlands never really understanding why his family was there or why he didn’t have a father. When he was 16-years-old, his mother sat him down and explained that Raki had in fact been born in a refugee camp in Papua New Guinea, after Indonesia invaded his home country of West Papua. He learned that his father - anthropologist and musician Arnold Ap - was targeted and eventually killed by the Indonesian military after his attempts to preserve Papuan culture and identity. From then on, Raki vowed his father’s death would not be in vain, later creating the Dutch branch of the Free West Papua campaign along with his brothers. He dreams of one day going home.  

The school yard was not a friendly place for Peter Sipeli, who loved to daydream and listen to Whitney Houston. He was a writer before he ever put pen to paper and Peter's words would go on to change hearts and minds. Peter helped establish Fiji’s first gay rights lobby and his advocacy work continued with delivering workshops to the military and police force, to educate them on gay rights. More importantly, he shared with them his lived experience. Today, Peter works as a poet and runs his own walking tour company in Suva.

Ann Singeo’s childhood was full of adventure. Each weekend, her dad would take her and her siblings to discover a new island – in Palau there were more than 500 to explore. They would camp, fish and learn about taking only what was needed from the land and sea. These trips formed the foundations for Ann to later co-found the Ebiil Society, a non-profit which aims to educate about environmental protection and proper management of natural resources through indigenous knowledge. Ebiil also runs camps for kids, taking them into the environment Ann loved so much as a child and putting them back in touch with the earth they will inherit...in the hopes they'll be inspired to better care for it.

Ever since his childhood days singing at church, the stage has always felt like home to Klenneth Pombo. At school he also excelled in sport, but after realising soccer wasn't going to make him any money, he pivoted to comedy. His journey started when he scored a big gig hosting a PNG comedy TV show at the age of just 17. And then came a meme that kicked off PNG For Realz, his Facebook page that aims to showcase his societal observations and especially his own vulnerability. Klenneth is now one of Papua New Guinea's biggest comedians, reaching hundreds of thousands of people. And he understands the responsibility that comes with. He also does a brilliant Scottish accent. 

Eleven kilometers below the ocean's surface, in the Mariana Trench, is the deepest known part of the sea. More people have been to the moon than to that point. And while it's located in the waters of the Federated States of Micronesia, until 2021, no Micronesians had ever been there. Dr Nicole Yamase became the first Pacific Islander to make the journey down.

Gabrielle Langkilde had always wanted to go to Harvard, ever since a mentor told her she would. But the fast and competitive culture at the ivy league school was very different to her village back home in American Samoa. Gabrielle also realised the university was lacking a Pacific presence. So she started a Pacific-focused column in the prestigious student newspaper, The Harvard Crimson. It was the first of its kind in the paper’s 150 year history. Her words travelled beyond campus, to others on the islands and after graduating in 2021, Gabrielle is now launching that column as independent magazine, Pasefika Presence. 

There is a children’s book that can be found in schools across Kiribati called Teaote and the Wall. It’s about one woman’s quest to build her own sea wall to protect her home in Tarawa from rising sea levels. The book is based on the story of i-Kiribati woman Teaote Davies and introduces children to the human impacts of climate change. Teaote also happens to be the Aunt of Stories from the Pacific host Bobby Macumber.  

When Leonid Vusilai was a child in Vanuatu, he dreamed of becoming a pilot. It was mainly for the prestige associated with it but he also wanted to travel the world. His dad advised against it and gave Leo another idea that would see him fly around the globe anyway, only this time as a renowned chef and winner of Pacific Island Food Revolution, Season One. 

Hina Cross was seven years old when the last of the 193 nuclear bombs was tested in French Polynesia in 1996. But she never learned about it in school. 

After being diagnosed leukaemia at the age of 24, Hina began to realise the full extent of the fallout.  

Now an Anti-Nuclear Activist and newly appointed Member of Parliament in Tahiti, Hina aims to unveil the country’s true history and give Polynesians the chance to tell their own stories.  

When Cathy Neap was growing up in the Papua New Guinean Province of Enga, girls weren’t supposed to speak up, let alone kick around a footy.  

But she made it her mission to prove that if the boys could play rugby, she could too. 

Cathy eventually led PNG’s first national women’s NRL team to the 2017 World Cup and the side earned respect from across the country.