Funded by the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT), the team departed to Tonga last week and are currently in quarantine. The team are all Tongan speaking and will be primarily working with the Women and Children’s Crisis Centre. 

The PACMAT team will be led by Mr Amanaki Misa, who expresses his excitement in getting to serve his home island. 

“I’m the team leader for this deployment to Tonga and that’s basically ensuring that the team is well looked after and making sure that we are ready to serve.

But also brokering relationships with agencies and organizations, making sure that the work we do is meaningful and that we reconnect with stakeholders in Tonga; we’re going there to maintain relationships, nurture it and make sure it continues long term”, says Mr Misa.

The opportunity to be a part of the deployment to Tonga is one that Mr Misa does not take lightly and he sees it as a privilege. 

“It truly is an honor to be able to serve this way. It’s a privilege but privilege is always accompanied with responsibility. I want to honor those who have placed their faith in me. 

This is the first time I’ve been deployed to my home country and it is such a huge honor and I just feel humbled. We are serving families, we’re not serving consumers.

We will be guided by the locals, they know their context. We must go in there with an attitude of understanding that we are an extension of the colleagues in Tonga.”

#pmaunite #pmafamily

Date: Saturday 09 April 2022