Pasifika builders share Trade Secrets with Marlborough youth

Solomona Daniel knows how to get young people’s attention. During the question-and-answer portion of Trade Secrets, an event in Blenheim last Wednesday evening about training and apprenticeships in the trades, his mention of rugby widened some eyes.

The Building and Construction Industry Training Organisation (BCITO) hosted the session at Marlborough Youth Trust’s MySpace. While aimed at Pasifika rangatahi and whanau, anyone was welcome. Five dozen came to hear opportunities in the field – some straight from rugby practice, some wearing team apparel.

Bookended by BCITO colleague Amby Talamaivao and two Pasifika tradesmen, contractor John Pale and carpentry apprentice Ieremiah Donald, Solomona noted the short duration and longshot odds of a professional sport career. Even those pros “need a backup plan”.

So – and here’s what grabbed focus – BCITO’s trainees include All Blacks, Crusaders and Moana Pasifika players. The latter in particular face uncertainty because their club is folding at the end of the season.

After the Q&A, as youth clustered around an information table learning more from Amby and local BCITO training advisor Stuart Caufield, Solomona stressed the significance of Trade Secrets’ message.

“Trades are everywhere,” he said. “Someone needs a house built always and needs to have the lights on. We say to the young ones, ‘We love that you want to be an A.I. prompt engineer – but A.I. can’t build a house’.”

Familiar faces
This event was BCITO’s second in Blenheim. The organisation is based in Wellington but reaches across the country – increasingly, like here, outside metro areas. BCITO receives government funding to increase access for Māori, Pasifika, women and people with special needs.

MySpace proved conducive for engagement. BCITO served a dinner of Pasifika dishes and played Pasifika music. People sat on couches, around tables and in chairs facing a flatscreen monitor. The ambiance and attendance met organisers’ expectations.

“Same as last year,” Stuart said, “there’s one thing you can be sure of with the Pasifika community when they turn up: There’s always a bit of a party atmosphere. Having our guest speakers from that community, they all know everybody here, and I think that makes the conversation more like dinner around the table with family rather than a stranger coming to talk.”

BCITO’s apprenticeship programmes – paid, hands-on, on-the-job training toward qualification – cover 16 trades. These range from framing to flooring, glasswork to joinery, interior systems to design.

Solomona, principal advisor for Pasifika learning supports, noted the importance of “building success within our community” by exposing youth to possibilities they may not have considered. If only 20 percent go to university, the vast majority need other pathways.

“If you can’t see it,” he said, “you can’t be it.”

Visit bcito.org.nz for more information on training and apprenticeships.