Pasifika Wayfinders Fono

At the Pasifika Roundtable we heard from the Youth and Family practitioners wanting to know if there was any support for them. This question landed on Lesa Debra’s radar as a youth worker for over 20 years she understood how crucial it is for practitioners to have the right support. This led to further discussion with community members and seeking support to provide a safe space for practitioners to learn from one another, connect, to build on their current practices and to navigate new ways to uplift and serve their community. The Victoria Multicultural Commission (VMC) provided the support we needed to deliver the Pasifika Wayfinders Fono series. Over the past five months, we facilitated together with community members, Sam Brown co-founder of Blank Canvas and Anasina GreyBarberio founder of Engage Pasefika and Agnes Fanene. We discussed issues from youth justice, family domestic violence, education, mental health/well-being and youth culture and were joined by amazing guest speakers/panelists who shared their experiences and expertise which created great discussions, learning opportunities, and also challenged us all to continue to find ways to support our Pasifika community in our respective field. The Fono highlighted what we already knew; the need for ongoing support for practitioners especially understanding the support that should be made available for them. This was a passion project for Lesa Debra so that alone tells us that this is not the end of Wayfinders and like she said at the last Fono, “the Fono series maybe over but Wayfinders continues” - watch this space.