108 | COMMUNITY K’aute Pasifika Village Virginia Wright Two years to build iconic structure The design of the fale, with its distinctive oval shape, constructed entirely of wood, reflects the traditional Pasifika meeting house. Proudly involved in the PanPasi ika CommunityHubProject Proud to be partnering with the K’aute Pasifika Trust to deliver the civil works for the Pan Pacific Community Hub At Schick Civil Construc�on we specialise in Commercial, Industrial and Residen�al Developments - Bulk Earthworks / Roading / Siteworks / Drainage / Surveying C I V I L C O N S T R U C T I O N 0800 4 SCHICK www.schick.co.nz The iconic building anchoring the K’aute Pasifika Village in Hamilton’s town centre, the Fale, took two years to build, but has been 23 years in the making. The organisation’s name was chosen to represent their core reason for being. ‘Aute’ and ‘kaute’ are both words for the hibiscus flower in a number of different Pasifika languages, and the flower itself is found across the Pacific region. “Our founders landed on ‘K’aute’ with an apostrophe to represent the diversity of the Pacific; the fact that each Pacific group has their own nuances, their own cultural practices, and beliefs, ; but also it represents the unity of our Pacific peoples symbolised by the hibiscus flower they all enjoy,” says Leaupepe Rachel Karalus, who has been Chief Executive of K’aute Pasifika for the last five and a half years, and on the board for four years before that. The design of the fale, with its distinctive oval shape, constructed entirely of wood, reflects the traditional Pasifika meeting house, and comes from Pacific communities with over 300 years of designing and developing such buildings. It’s been 23 years since Samoan community leader Leaupepe Elisapeta Karalus recognised, and then worked to understand, why her community weren’t accessing mainstream services. Conversations with local and central government soon revealed that the issue was widespread through other Pasifika groups, and the first, large community fono/ hui, was convened at a local marae. to page 110
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