Five years into the rebuilding of Christchurch, in our Shake Up series we talk about the legacy of the earthquakes with some of the people making the city a better place.
Josiah Tualamali’i is a part of the group Pacific Youth Leadership and Transformation. PYLAT is a community organisation and charitable trust that runs groups and workshops as well as getting Pacific youth involved in democratic processes to enable their voices to be heard in policy and decision-making at a local and national level.
"Our purpose now is to see a world that’s well influenced and informed by young Pacific people." Photo: Supplied
What was your earthquake experience like?
I wasn’t actually at home, I was at school. It was a typical day. I had just finished drama class. I managed to get down the stairs, and then it happened.
A couple of friends behind me had fallen down the stairs because of the earthquake. We just sort of waited, we didn’t know what was going on. I remember someone got a text from their parents, which was strange because most of us couldn’t get in contact with anyone. They told us the Cathedral had fallen in.
I remember saying: "Nah, that’s impossible, that’s ridiculous. This is just, you know, another typical earthquake like we’ve already had."
Then someone told us people had died and we were like, "Nah, again that’s not possible".
We were just cut off from everything. Wasn’t until I got messages from my parents saying, ‘stay where you are, things are really bad’ that I started to realise.
How did you get involved with the group PYLAT?
Before the earthquake in 2010 we had a parliamentary simulation. The Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs organised it. It was them saying, we see the Pacific young people don’t have something that brings them together; we’d like to do that and help develop leadership opportunities.
They came up with the idea of PYLAT. There were 48 participants. We looked at current issues and gave our vision for an inclusive New Zealand. After that, we just turned it into the trust that we have now.
What is a parliamentary simulation?
Practically, it replicated the select committee process except looking at perspectives on an issue and making a recommendation.
What does PYLAT do now?
Our purpose now is to see a world that’s well influenced and informed by young Pacific people. That means educating decision makers, businesses and schools, helping make their processes inclusive. Getting young pacific people involved in democracy.
Has PYLAT changed due to the earthquake?
The target was different before the earthquake. It was for young Pacific leaders ... Now we see ourselves as helping grow Pacific leadership and us helping influence the youth sector.
Do you think you’ll stay in Christchurch?
I’d like to stay for good. A lot of us understand this community far better. I’m on the PYLAT board in Auckland at the moment, but I don't think the best use of my time would be with that community because I’ve grown up here.
I know what it’s like to be a Pacific person in Christchurch, and the difficulties Christchurch faces in becoming a city which is inclusive of ethnic communities.
I do feel I might need to hop away and come back. There’s lots of cool opportunities I’d like to take like maybe study overseas and then come back.
