Activities for the week:
- A profitable discussion was had with Alistair Allan, Director of Facilities Management at Albany about the marae and Maori complex including the fale and Pasifika complex. Although, the will exists to complete the project there is a process to be followed including putting together a business case. We are looking at around 2020 for the facilities to take shape;
- Looking forward to attending the Marsden Fund workshop on Friday;
- I am continuing consultations on the Pacific think tank concentrating on colleagues at AUT and Auckland university;
- Preparation for the Human Rights in the Pacific conference in December are well underway;
- The process of inviting the King of Tonga to open the Human Rights conference and to launch the Inaugural Queen Salote Tupou III Lecture Series has begun by contacting the Lord Chamberlain;
- Great to see Moses Faleolo and Sione Vaka pass their PhD oral exams with minor amendments to be made to their theses. Graduation celebrations in April 2015 at Albany is looking to be an exciting event;
- Ben Taufua and I are attending the combined church service for North Shore Pacific communities in Glenfield this Sunday;
- We are trialling an initiative at the Directorate which will see Pasifika students getting free cups and bowls of noodles for lunch or dinner. If there is enough interest we will look at continuing the programme but at specific intervals that help the students most, for example, during exam times. I hope to start a similar initiative at Manawatu and Wellington. The initiative has been funded by the Fofo’anga Club