Robert Matau


In 2006, then president of French Polynesia Oscar Temaru met Pacific youth at the Pacific Arts Festival in Papeete and told them  that “in our own homes we cannot speak our own language”.
He also told them that “in our own country we cannot even call ourselves Tahitians—we are known as French Polynesians—so go and take this back home so that your people will know.”
One of those youth listening at the time was none other than veteran Fiji youth worker, Usa Cirikiwai. He has not forgotten the look in Temaru’s eyes and the impact of the message on him. Temaru was referring to the use of indigenous Tahitian language in their parliament.
“He was more or less telling us that the emphasis should be on culture and tradition or what makes us stand out against the whole world,” Cirikiwai said.
“That was a very powerful message for me and I thought about Fiji when he said these thing. I was thinking what would happen if our young people are going to float away from their culture on their own accord.”
But for the youth of the Pacific, three years have passed and it is time for them to meet again and discuss what happened at the French Polynesia meeting and how they can make the transition from boys to men or from girls to women as they look at ways to carry the future of their nations.
“SPC’s Dr Jimmie Rodgers said it is time for young people to turn scars into stars. A lot of the time we have been blamed for the bad things happening in our societies and we now have people who have stood and listened and believed in us,” Cirikiwai said.
“The first challenge is to believe in themselves.  If Obama banked on its young people to win the US presidency, that showed the capabilities of their young people.”
Cirikiwai believes the youth need to relive and revive the root of their existence otherwise problems could arise in our peaceful Pacific cultures.
Cirikiwai will be among 1000 youth leaders in the Pacific who will take on the challenge to grasp change and make an impact on regional development.
Between July 11-18, youth from Kiribati, Tonga, Nauru, Federated States of Micronesia, American Samoa, Niue, Cook Islands, Marshall Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Tuvalu and Wallis and Futuna, Solomon Islands and Palau will meet in Suva at the Laucala campus of the University of the South Pacific for the Pacific Youth Festival.
“Right now in the Pacific we are seeing culture relegated to entertainment in hotels and not many of us are proud to parade it because we hardly understand it ourselves.
“Culture was the way we lived many years ago and it is important to revive it so that we move at a pace where we remember where we came from, who we are and move forward to take our place in the global community.
“That would be the greatest challenge for Pacific cultures today and this meeting will be another chance for our youth to plot the way forward. Otherwise, you can see how youth walk through town and walk right through you instead of the traditional way of making way for our elders or simply respecting the elders of our community.
“We saw at the Papeete Festival that Fiji still has a lot to offer to the rest of Pacific as we are held with so much regard and respect, so what we do many others follow, so this should become an interesting event for our regional youth.”
While 22 countries have been invited, 14 have so far indicated their intention to attend.
Fiji’s youth minister Filipe Bole said one aim of the last Pacific Youth Festival in Papeete in 2006 was to produce an outcome document called the Pacific Youth Charter that sets out young peoples’ visions and recommendations—defining priorities for youth-led action at local, national, and regional levels.
“I think young people nowadays are not as laid-back as people think,” he said.
“Because of their level of education, young people are beginning to become aware and concerned even about developments in their community and its people.
“They are now more empowered to participate in decision-making processes that will affect their future.”
The Fiji Government has allocated $900,000 for the hosting of the Pacific Youth Festival.—By Robert Matau