:monique faleafa
The Great Divide
Born in a time of unrest for Pacific Islanders in New Zealand, Monique Faleafa is doing her part to solve issues within her culture.
THERE'S A FAMOUS LINE in the 1958 classic Auntie Mame that comes to mind when you consider the motives of Monique Faleafa: 'Life is a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death!' As National Manager of Le Va, New Zealand's national coordination
service and workforce development programme for Pacific mental health, addictions, disabilities and general health, Monique has made it her life's mission to ensure there's plenty to go around. Monique was born and bred in Grey Lynn, Auckland during the
controversial mid-70s dawn raids on the homes of alleged Pacific Island overstayers. "Everybody in Grey Lynn had some connection with Pacific people
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overstaying in Auckland," Monique tells. "I was connected through my father who was quite the radical activist. I remember as a teenager finding a photo of a 1974 march on immigration up Queen Street on the front page of the New Zealand Herald. There was my Samoan dad and Irish mum (who was nine months pregnant with me) at the front of the march. "We grew up under the poverty line," she continues. "But it was
the norm. We always had loads of people living with us, and with a relative in every second house on your street the whole community was our family." With five siblings under seven (a customary Catholic Pacific island
