The characteristics of traditional discipleship taught and practiced in Samoan society reflect the consideration of the church’s needs and demands which are more important than family. For example, one characteristic of becoming a disciple is that he or she is expected to abandon his or her family and follow Jesus. However, public criticism of this...

The thesis gives a postcolonial and queer analysis of queer lives in Fiji. It asks how queer Fijians negotiate the requirements of racialised and sexualised subjectivity in a context of ongoing social marginalisation. Drawing on Ahmed’s (2006) Queer Phenomenology, I undertake a phenomenological close reading to explore the effects of the family, church, and nation...

This study focused on a group of 101 Tongan students within the middle and upper levels of primary schools in New Zealand. It examined the hypothesis that explicit vocabulary instruction, using an educational intervention, can positively impact on Tongan students’ reading comprehension and contribute to the improvement of their reading achievement. The implementation of the...

Lack of access to sanitation is not only an affront to human dignity, it pollutes the environment, degrades natural resources, compromises economic productivity, facilitates the transmission of diseases, increases child mortality, jeopardises maternal health, undermines education, exacerbates gender inequalities and perpetuates the cycle of poverty. Despite significant international efforts over the past three decades, lack...

Diabetes mellitus is having a considerable impact on the health and well-being of Māori and Pacific people in New Zealand (NZ). The prevalence of diabetic nephropathy is high in these groups, who also have a heightened risk of progression to end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Good blood pressure (BP) control is paramount to the prevention and...