Teresia Teaiwa Memorial Scholarship quizz night fundraiser a success
A fundraising evening organised by the Pacific Studies Alumni Association raised over $5000 for the Teresia Teaiwa Memorial Scholarship fund.
Over 200 people attended a quiz night on 8 August in the Hunter Lounge in honour of the late Associate Professor Teresia Teaiwa. Alumni Jenny Taotua, Fabiefara Filo and Fa'aaliga Leota made up the organising committee, working alongside members Amanda Rawiri, Donna Collins, Catherine Jefferies, Sepola Fa’avae, Rachel Pahulu, and Lemalu Alexa Masina to gather prizes, goods for raffles and prepare for the evening.
Third-year Pacific Studies student, Solomona Esera, was the MC for the evening, entertaining the crowd and keeping the atmosphere lively.
The quiz night came out of a Talanoa to brainstorm ideas for fundraising for the Teresia Teaiwa Memorial Scholarship Fund. Teresia’s dying wish was to create scholarships in her name to provide Pasifika students with the opportunity to study Pacific Studies at Victoria University and the Fund has been established to finance these scholarships.
“We wanted to hold the quiz night the week before or after our beautiful Teresia's birthday, and we were blessed to be able to host it a few days before,” says Fabiefara, who is a Victoria University of Wellington staff member and currently studying for Bachelor of Arts with Honours (BA(Hons)) in Pacific Studies. “Our fundraiser was a success thanks to our wonderful families and friends.”
Jenny Taotua, also a staff member and BA(Hons) graduate, is currently studying for her Master of Arts in Pacific Studies. She says it was a joy to see all the students, alumni, and friends and family of Teresia come out to support the fundraising event. “The evening saw Pacific Studies students and alumni join forces to support the dream that Teresia had. It is amazing to see that her dream will soon become a reality for future students of Pacific Studies,” she says.
Dr April Henderson, Programme Director of Pacific Studies, says, “I particularly love that the initiative was entirely conceived of and orchestrated by our alumni, with a great result.”
For their next fundraising activity, the Pacific Studies Alumni Association is planning to hold an art auction in early November.