My Australian Volunteer assignment

The first three months of my Australian Volunteers assignment has flown by! One-quarter of my year here is finished! And I feel like I’m just getting started!

So far I’ve written about some of the beautiful places here in Samoa and featured some of my adventures. I think now with three months under my belt, it might be time to talk about the real reason I’m here. I’ve had friends see my posts on Facebook and Instagram and ask if I’m working or just having an extended holiday. I reassure anyone thinking this, I am actually working and hopefully, by year end, I will have made some sort of difference here. I think these assignments are a bit like creating a ripple effect. I may never see the end product of the work I do here but I hope I create some positive ripples.

My assignment has been organised by the Australian Volunteers Program which is funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Australia. I’m a Communications and Media mentor for my partner organisation, the Samoan Umbrella for Non Governmental Organisations (SUNGO). I assist SUNGO and its member organisations to become more strategic in their communications activities. That includes developing and delivering training for members to build their capacity through communications and digital engagement activities.

SUNGO’s more than 200 members include NGOs working across health, community services, conservation of the environment, gender equity, recycling, domestic violence and economic development services. They also have a strong membership of community based and faith-based organisations and trusts. It’s a huge cross-section of civil society in Samoa. And SUNGO’s importance can’t be overstated.

As an Australian Volunteer I have an agreed workplan for the year that has been developed between me and my partner organisation. It’s ambitious and the SUNGO board have asked me to work 3 to 4 days a week in the office and then 1-2 days a week out in member organisations, advising them on communications.

SUNGO has a great reputation in Samoa and across the Pacific for delivering excellent capacity building training for civil societies. Through their partnership with the European Union, they have access to world-class training materials on organisation governance, project management, monitoring and evaluation and other topics. They translate these materials into Samoan and deliver them professionally.

A few weeks ago, I was asked to present a one-day social media workshop on how to discern Mis -, Mal-, and Dis-information on social media. I was happy to do so. It’s always tricky presenting material that someone else developed but the content was excellent. I was able to present in English and was encouraged to add my own spin to things. I did and I’m happy to say that the participant feedback was overwhelmingly positive! So positive that they now want me to develop my own training package around social media policies and crisis communications training.

I’m currently developing a workshop on writing communications strategies which I plan to deliver with my local counterpart and mentee, Kisa. (Yes, the SUNGO communications team is now Kisa and Lisa. 😊)

The team at SUNGO is small, only 6 full-time, including me, but they are all dedicated to developing civil society organisations in Samoa. They’ve all been welcoming and SUNGO has a good reputation of working with Australian Volunteers in the past. One former volunteer wrote a grant application to obtain money from the Japanese embassy to build a new training centre. The application was successful, ground broke earlier this year and just three weeks ago, the official opening was held. The building was opened by the Acting Prime Minister Hon. Mulipola Anarosa Ale Molio’o and the Ambassador of Japan HE Mr. Ryotaro Suzuki. It was an amazing day to help plan and organise and then to be a part of as the SUNGO team. Members of government, civil societies and a lot of media turned up to the event. My personal highlight was meeting and talking with the Acting Prime Minister.

My favourite part of the assignment is meeting some of SUNGO’s members and seeing how I can help them, especially to build capacity at their organisations. The training programs I am developing with the team at SUNGO will help many organisations but I also like knowing what our members do on the ground so I can personalise our assistance for them.

Last week was Mental Health Week and on Friday I visited the Goshen Mental Health Services Trust to help promote their work for Mental Health Day. The Trust is a residential and day community mental health provider. These are amazing people, working with very little to try to help some of the community’s mentally ill.

The Trust lost their main residential building in climate change related floods a couple of years ago. They were fortunate enough to have the Embassy of Japan provide a new building on a new site last year which provides rooms for 16 patients (8 of each gender).

But the new building doesn’t have a kitchen or any proper area for patients to spend time outside. Food is cooked in a kitchen kilometres away and is brought by van twice a day. In the photos below, you will see their facility for washing dishes, etc. They have purchased a shipping container and hope to have it converted to a kitchen so they will have one on site, but this requires more money. The striped tent is their outside relaxing area for patients.

The staff have planted vegetable beds and provide healthy eating programs for patients. They have plans to build a small roadside shop to sell excess vegetables and fruits, as well as rugs, birdhouses and other crafts created by patients with the hope that they can raise funds for service provision.

On Friday, to mark Mental Health Day, they broke ground and started planting an outside walking mandala to help patients focus their minds and appreciate nature.

I’ve worked to promote mental health awareness in Australia for years and we still have a long way to go, but I was humbled visiting this facility and meeting the staff and patients. My brain is now scrambling trying to find grant opportunities or other funding avenues to help their CEO Naomi and her team with their vital work. And I will help them write a communications strategy to focus their attention on promoting their facility, as well as the products they have for sale.

This week, Kisa and I visited IMAGINE Science Samoa an exciting technology and discovery centre aimed at engaging students, families and the public through hands-on and interactive Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) exhibits and activities.

We viewed the educational spaces, tried a few experiments of our own and used the visit to better understand the unique communication needs of IMAGINE Science Samoa. We plan to go back in a few weeks’ time to workshop a communications strategy to help them plan and guide their activities for the next year or two.

While I’ve enjoyed meeting all of our members so far, one organisation has quickly wormed its way into my heart. Salani Bright Horizons is an organisation who works with the youth of the village of Salani to educate them about environmental issues like climate change and social issues like family violence or health conditions. They link their educational program with practical on-the-ground action as well as training the youth in outrigger canoe paddling. The link with paddling is that canoe paddling is a traditional, but almost lost art in the south coast villages like Salani. Paddling teaches the youth teamwork and provides physical exercise. It keeps them off screens and builds the community around their traditional knowledge. And it is a great way for village families to come together.

I knew nothing of all of this when I saw a Facebook post that advertised a car wash on a Saturday morning to raise funds for a forthcoming outrigger canoe regatta. My car was dirty, I was free that Saturday, and I love supporting youth and paddling. So I went. It was the best money I could have spent.

While the kids cleaned my car inside and out, I met and chatted with an amazing woman, Mata’utia Hetta Fuimaono who just happened to be the CEO of Salani Bright Horizons and the driving force behind the organisation. She explained that the kids, who live in Salani on the South Coast of Samoa, train twice a week at Mulinu’u near the capital of Apia on the north coast. They were training on Tuesday and Thursday nights while planning to host the first ever regatta on the Salani River, in their village. By the end of our conversation, not only was my car sparkling clean, I was hooked on seeing Salani Bright Horizons work for myself.

The following Tuesday I turned up at Mulinu’u and within minutes, I was standing in chest deep water, helping kids get in and out of outrigger canoes so they could train. The kids from the car wash remembered me and couldn’t believe I was there to support them. And they have been surprised and thrilled each week that I’ve turned up, rain or shine, to help support them in a small way.

At a few training sessions I’ve been able to jump into a boat and paddle with them, but for the most part, these evenings have been about the kids and helping them realise their dream. But I have to say, there’s nothing quite like an evening paddle in Samoa in the warm waters of the Pacific, with the sun setting, the palm trees swaying in the breeze and the light on Mount Vaea behind the city. It’s enough to make one forget any stress or frustrations from the day. I can join any paddling team in town but to help with these youth and show them that people believe in them, does my heart and soul more good.

I was invited to the village to the launch of the program and was treated like a VIP. I really had planned to go to take photos and help them promote the event through SUNGO’s social media channels. In the end, the kids gave me an ula (lei) and led me to the table reserved for dignitaries. I sat with Miss Samoa/Miss Pacific Islands Litara Ieremia Allan, special environmental ambassador Suluafi Brianna Fruean, Miss Falealili Julia Liulagi, and Aualiitia Leata Mailo, the President of Samoan Outrigger Canoe Association. I felt very honoured.

As the formalities began, Julia (Miss Falealili) leaned over to me and asked if I had ever been part of an ‘Ava ceremony in Samoa. I hadn’t, so she was kind and walked me through what to do and what to say. I was very grateful to be sitting next to her! It was inspiring to hear from all of these women and from Hetta, who is a village matai (chief) and to see her in action in her village. The day focused on environmental education and each of the students in attendance learned a lot from the inspiring speeches.

The following day was a coastal clean up where the villagers turned out to clean the beaches and the village (which sits on the edge of the ocean). Unfortunately I had to be in the office that day as I was working on SWOT analyses and other communications tools for SUNGO and couldn’t be out of the office for a second day, much as I would have liked to.

This past Monday was a public holiday but even more importantly, it was REGATTA DAY! The planning and preparation for this day can hardly be fathomed. There are no racing outrigger canoes based on the south coast of Samoa so four V6 racing boats were partly dismantled on Friday, loaded on trucks and then driven over the mountain from Mulinu’u to Salani. Once they were put back together, the kids trained on their river, in their village on Saturday. I stopped by training before heading to the beach for the weekend and they were so focused and ready as well as full of their trademark laughter and songs.

Sunday was White Sunday, a very special Sunday in the Samoan calendar dedicated to children. It seemed only fitting that the regatta took place on Monday’s public holiday commemorating children. Many teams, made up of all ages, made the trek to Salani to see history made. I helped with registration of racers from 7am and around 8am all racers took part in a parade from the Salani bridge, through part of the village, to the Salani Surf Resort where each team set up an area on the bank of the river.

Just as the official part of the day was to start with speeches and prayers, the heavens opened. I’ve never got so wet so fast. Within minutes, all the paths at the resort were ankle deep in water. It was crazy and yet, no one cared.

The energy of the day was electric, with races in youth, open, mens, womens, mixed classes. Most races were in the V6 boats but there were both men and women who also competed in V1 canoes. These are incredibly difficult to keep steady, steer and race at the same time. I really enjoyed watching those races. The young man who won the men’s division is one of the trainers that I’ve been able to get to know through our training sessions. He has competed at world championships and it was great to see the Salani kids and community support him with their cheers and enthusiasm.

The Salani kids were thrilled to be part of such a historic event for the country. They didn’t even seem to mind that they didn’t win – but they were competitive in their fields. With more training, they can see what they can achieve when they believe in themselves.

The last race of the day ended up being for those of us who just wanted to have a go, but who hadn’t been in a team. Even though the boat I ended up in had four palagi (white people) who had never paddled before and we came in dead last, it didn’t matter. All I could hear was the roar of the Salani kids cheering for me as we paddled. And as I jumped out of the boat at the end into the river, they gave me high fives and hugs and I knew I had won something that first place couldn’t beat.

Hetta wrote a Facebook post to sum up the day and I think her words are better than anything I could write: “Monday 13th October 2025, from the shores of Mulinuu to the mouth of the Salani River (Mulivaifagatoloa), we made history. The waters of our river carried something they had never known before, the rhythm of paddles cutting through the waves, the chants of courage, and the heartbeat of a community united in purpose. For the first time, our people witnessed the beauty and spirit of outrigger canoeing right here on our own river, and the Samoa Outrigger Canoeing Association (SOCA) felt something extraordinary in return. Our river breathed life, strength, and promise yesterday.

This moment was not born out of ease, but through faith, discipline, and relentless passion. Our collaboration with the Seagles Outrigger Club and SOCA was a journey of belief, a journey to prove that Salani Bright Horizons could rise, could host, could paddle, and could shine. We trained with heart, we committed with soul, and we turned what once seemed impossible into a living testimony that WE CAN.

Even the rain that fell upon us was no accident. It came not to hinder but to prepare us, to remind us that blessings are often wrapped in challenge. Through the rough weather, we found strength, and through the storm, we saw God’s favour unfold. Every drop of rain was a whisper of grace upon our paddles and our hearts.

The turnout was overwhelming, the energy unshakable, and the preparation, though it stretched us beyond our limits, was guided by divine hands. The countless miracles that led to this day are beyond words. Truly, God was in control of it all. Maeu lou agalelei le Alii e, o ai ea i matou, Faafetai Viia oe e faavavau.

But none of this would have come to life without those who believed in us, who stood beside us when the dream was just a spark. To all who offered their support, financial, in-kind, in prayer, and in presence, we express our deepest gratitude. Friends, Families and loved ones. Your faith in us was the current that carried this dream forward.”

Hetta’s dream was realised on Monday, and after just one day of rest, she and I met for lunch on Wednesday. Already she has plans for next year, plans to build a grandstand, plans for a permanent boat launch on the river and plans for at least two boats that the village can call their own so the kids can train after school and on Saturdays without having to drive more than an hour and a half one way. We talked about forthcoming grant opportunities and she has already started writing applications. I have volunteered to help edit anything she needs. And she’s offered me a spot on their Mixed Open team for the next regatta. She truly is a force of nature and I’m so grateful that I’ve met her through my work at SUNGO.

The first three months of this assignment have already been life-changing for me and I hope I’ve made a few ripples of positivity as well for the organisations and people I have met. I can’t wait to see what the next nine months bring.