Voices of The Pacific is a five part mini-documentary series on RSE workers. The series was produced by PCF in partnership with HortNZ. These are the stories of workers from the five original RSE Pacific nations that started the scheme 16 years ago. Video / NZ Herald
Brothers Lisiate and Taniela Loloma know what growing up with very little is like.
The siblings from Tonga gave up any dreams to pursue education when they followed their father’s footsteps instead - signing up to travel to New Zealand to work as seasonal workers under the Recognised Seasonal Employer scheme.
Lisiate, the eldest of all his siblings, arrived in New Zealand in 2009 - a year after his father Sione Loloma touched down in the land of milk and honey to pursue his dreams to help his family.
“We grew up in a poor family with little to survive on. Then our dad joined this programme in 2008 here in New Zealand.
“I left school to follow our dad in this work programme.”
Brothers Taniela (left) and Lisiate Loloma are seasonal workers from Tonga here under the Recognised Seasonal Employment scheme. Image / Pacific Cooperation Foundation
Not long after arriving in New Zealand, another brother - Taniela Loloma - joined them working on orchards under Wai-West Horticulture Ltd, in Nelson, to help the family even more.
Like his father and brother, Taniela wanted to better the family’s living situation back in the motherland and also help fund his younger sister’s and brother’s education.
Family relying on us
The family features in the fourth instalment of a new documentary series, Voices Of The Pacific, highlighting the lives of RSE workers from Samoa, Vanuatu, Fiji, Tonga and Tuvalu. The docu-series is by the Pacific Cooperation Foundation and HortNZ.
The Loloma men quickly earned a reputation for being hard and honest workers; with one staffer choking up on the video, acknowledging the goodness within the family.
Lisiate and Tina Loloma with their young children outside their home in Tonga. Image / Pacific Cooperation Foundation
Last year, Sione Loloma died.
Son Lisiate returned home to Tonga to see his family, including his wife Tina and their young children. As the eldest, he felt somewhat torn about returning to RSE work in New Zealand or staying home on the islands to be there for his family.
However, it was seeing how much he and his brother and father had contributed to changing their lives in Tonga that ultimately resulted in a decision to come back.
The family’s house - once made up of a tin roof and humble almost paper-thin walls, is now a bigger and more sturdy building.
“I realised that we had family that were relying on us - the same family that cared for my father while my brother and I went to New Zealand to work.
Lisiate Loloma stands at the grave of his late father and former RSE worker, Sione Loloma. Photo / Pacific Cooperation Foundation
“Now he’s gone, as his oldest child, all of the responsibilities he carried now rests on my shoulders. So I’ve made the decision to go back to New Zealand,” he said.
“I will go back and work, as it provides for me and my family...It’s what makes us happy - to see our life has moved up to a better level.”
