Stuff Digital Edition

DAMON SALESA

AUT’s history-maker

Words: Torika Tokalau Image: Ryan Anderson

It isn’t lost on Toelesulusulu Damon Ierenia Salesa how privileged his childhood was, with hardworking parents who supported him in every way, so he could be the first in his family to attend university.

He also doesn’t underestimate how challenging it was, growing up in one of the first brown families in his Glen Innes neighbourhood in Auckland.

‘‘You become aware of the world in New Zealand, people treat others who are not white quite differently. And, as you become aware of that yourself, you realise that they are treating you differently . . . and your parents can’t protect you from that.

‘‘I haven’t been able to protect my own children from that, and you think – doing what I do – I’d be able to insulate them from those things, but it’s not possible.’’

Salesa, 48, made New Zealand history this month when he was appointed the vicechancellor of Te Wā nanga Aronui o Tā maki Makaurau Auckland University of Technology (AUT) – the first Pacific person to hold that role at a New Zealand university.

Sitting on a park bench in central Auckland’s Albert Park, Salesa talks about his humble beginnings. He talks about his love for basketball and reading, summer holidays at his grandparents’ farm, and losing his oldest brother in a car accident when he was 9.

He talks about his wife, Labour MP Jenny Salesa, and their daughters, Mahalia, 17, and Esmae, 16.

But most of his story centres on his father, Ierenia Salesa, who, at 17 years old, came to New Zealand from Samoa, with big dreams of becoming a mechanic.

Ierenia had grown up in the village of Vaisala in Savaii, but was originally from the neighbouring villages of Neiafu, Falealupo and Satapuala.

In New Zealand, Ierenia Salesa met Yvonne, a young woman from a dairy farming family in Waipapakauri, who had moved to Auckland to be a nurse.

‘‘It was a very difficult time to be a mixed couple back then, my mother was a Pā kehā and my father a Samoan. They couldn’t get a house because of that, so moved in with my father’s family in Glen Innes.

‘‘So you can imagine a young Pā kehā woman living with a large Samoan family – all the cousins, uncles and aunties.’’

Growing up, Salesa thought it was quite normal to share a home with one’s aunties, uncles and cousins.

He had four siblings, two brothers and two sisters. ‘‘We were a large, supportive family. We always had a lot of people in our home, aunties and cousins grew up with me. People I thought were my father’s siblings but, as I grew up, realised they were first cousins.

‘‘It wasn’t a big house, but I was fortunate to have all that support around me.

‘‘We were one of the first Samoan families in the neighbourhood and I always thought that was how everyone grew up, people sleeping on the couch and so on. Then I realised that that wasn’t normal, but it was a nice way to grow up.’’

Salesa’s dad worked in factories in Auckland, before ending up at Fisher & Paykel, where he worked for 44 years, until his retirement.

During the university holidays, and to help pay for his studies, Salesa joined his dad building fridges and got a solid income for 31⁄2 months of summer work.

He loved his childhood – he was surrounded by love, especially from parents who worked hard to create a good life for them.

‘‘A factory worker, today, and someone who wasn’t quite a registered nurse could never afford the lifestyle that I grew up with. I’m very conscious that my parents had to do a lot more for us to have all that.

‘‘At the same time, I appreciate that I bore that kind of moment for New Zealand history, I also lived though the ending of it and just how tough it was for many other people, even those that lived next door to us.’’

Salesa shrugs off his experiences with race – like his father did, it’s a burden he would rather carry within himself.

He knows what it’s like to be treated differently, and says it’s helped him understand the world better. ‘‘Many times you’re treated differently, and you never found out, or [were] never made aware of, and those are the most important ones. They are especially the most important ones in education, where people make decisions about your capabilities and your future for you, and you will never know.

‘‘The bit that someone calls your name and says something offensive to you is hard, and it still happens, it happens a lot more, and I’m hoping it will happen less. But, those bits help you understand the world, that’s a reality you have to confront.

‘‘That pain is something you have to live with, but the ones that define so much about your life are the ones you don’t know. Where a doctor makes a decision about your care just because of the assumptions he’s made, or a teacher says you won’t thrive at this subject.

‘‘Many of the dramatic moments of race in our lives aren’t the most powerful moments of our lives. That’s the bit we have to work through. It can’t be true that these kids are failing at different rates because they aren’t smart; we know that’s not true.’’

Salesa retains strong connections to the community, especially in south Auckland, and today, still keeps in touch with his primary school teacher.

He and his wife value their work as servants of the community, and it’s there where they find their sustenance.

He owes his love for the community to his parents, grandparents, and the strong women in his life. ‘‘If you are truly in a relationship with people, and you are reciprocal of caring, and it comes from a place of love, respect and dignity, those will always be reciprocated.

‘‘And when they’re not, which was often my father’s experience in New Zealand, it also allows you to understand where that is coming from, and not to take it personally.

‘‘It gives you an inner strength that allows you to support others in their journey and provides you satisfaction in the success and achievement of others, and to find a reward in the act of service and giving, this is why you do it.’’

‘The bit that someone ... says something offensive to you is hard ... ’’

National Portrait

en-nz

2021-11-27T08:00:00.0000000Z

2021-11-27T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://stuff.pressreader.com/article/281797107265456

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