Stories by Sela Jane Hopgood

A new animal welfare society has opened in Tonga this month to help support the community with challenges they face when it comes to animal care.

A free Facebook Messenger chat-bot sharing Covid-19 information will be expanding its reach to include Pacific languages in the coming months. Audio

A Cook Island family in Auckland, looking to return their father to his final resting place in Rarotonga, is ecstatic to have heard the news that the Cook Islands will reopen its borders.

Recycled objects from hospice shops and souvenirs have been used in an exhibition reflecting a Tongan artist's personal journey with his culture. Audio

A Tongan family has received an isolation exemption from New Zealand's government so they can attend their father's funeral in Auckland.

There were concerns from directors and teachers over the well-being of their tertiary students from Tonga studying in Auckland during the national lockdown. Audio

An artificial intelligence agent named Tala may open the door on a new way of gathering feedback from New Zealand's Samoan community.

A new fiction e-book that addresses the challenges of being a teine Sāmoa, or Samoan girl, has launched this week to mark New Zealand's Samoan Language Week 2020.

The Zonta Club of Wellington has awarded this year's Biennial Zonta Science Award to a Pacific woman.

There are concerns among the Pacific community in New Zealand about a possible repeat of the Dawn Raids, in relation to the Public Health Response Bill.

A new children's book featuring the popular Mate Ma'a Tonga rugby league team is to be released this year on Tongan Language Week.

A charity organisation has surprised 150 Māori and Pacific families in South Auckland with essential food items during the current lockdown.

A Pasifika planner specialist for Auckland Council has been acknowledged in the 2020 New Zealand Planning Institute awards, having been nominated by her colleagues.

Over one thousand Pacific family violence workers have been mobilised in a campaign to curb domestic violence in their communities during the Covid-19 pandemic in New Zealand.

Many families in Tonga will be commemorating their fallen heroes and servicemen from their homes, driveways or workplaces at 7am on ANZAC Day rather than the Cenotaph Pangai Si'i.

A new hub for treating suspected and confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Tonga is close to completion.

A New Zealand family left homeless after Tropical Cyclone Harold in Tonga appeals for help.

The Pro Vice-Chancellor Pacific at the University of Auckland is wanting to engage Pacific high school students during the national lockdown with an online series of lecture videos about Oceania. Video

A group of youth volunteers in Tonga are doing their bit to rebuild the country post-Cyclone Harold.

A counselling service centre in Tonga is now in ruins due to the coinciding of Tropical Cyclone Harold and a king tide on 9 April.

One of the most notable locations in Tonga, a popular resort in Kanokupolu, has been damaged by Cyclone Harold.

A group of 10 Pacific Islanders from Auckland have started a Facebook group for people to connect and check in with each other during the Covid-19 pandemic.

A New Zealand citizen, who is currently unemployed, is struggling to return back home from Tonga due to border closures.

One of the founding members of Pacific Underground a New Zealand performing arts collective has been acknowledged by the Adam New Zealand Play Awards 2020.