From 5-11 October, it’s Fijian Language Week. ‘Na noqu vosa me na tekivu mai vale – My language starts at home’.
Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland joins communities across Aotearoa in celebrating Fijian Language Week, honouring the heritage of almost 70,000 Fijians that call Aotearoa, New Zealand home.
For Sainimere Boladuadua, a public health physician and PhD candidate in the University’s Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, this year’s theme is deeply personal.
With connections to Somosomo, Taveuni and maternally linked to Levuka, Yale, Kadavu, Sainimere says language is the vessel of cultural values that shape identity and community.
“Our language carries our values. Words like ‘veirokorokovi’, ‘veirogorogoci’, and ‘solesolevaki’, are more than terms – they are ways of living that hold our families, communities, and villages together,” she says.
- Veirokorokovi (Respect): Respect for elders, peers, visitors, and the environment, expressed through everyday gestures and protocols.
- Veirogorogoci (Listening/deferring to each other): Attentive, humble listening that fosters consensus and patience.
- Solesolevaki (Communal work): Working together for the collective good, from farming to community events.
- Lotu (faith): Christianity, woven into Fijian identity, reinforcing humility, gratitude, and service.
Access to healthcare a focus of doctoral research
Sainimere’s doctoral research focuses on improving access to healthcare for children with acute respiratory infections in Fiji, a leading cause of childhood illness and loss of life.
She says a key aspect of her work is examining how different worldviews influence healthcare access and how the community utilises those services.
“For Indigenous Fijians, this often involves navigating the intersections of the traditional Fijian worldview, a faith-based (most commonly Christian) worldview, and the Western biomedical health system,” she says.
“Understanding how people move between these spaces, and how this shapes their decisions to seek and engage with care, is central to my research.”
Sainimere recently completed a Fulbright research fellowship with the Johns Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health (JHCIH) in the United States. Working within the Infectious Diseases Prevention team, she collaborated with Navajo and White Mountain Apache communities on projects that integrate Indigenous knowledge with Western public health approaches.
Her work included contributing to RSV Surveillance in Native American Children and Adults (SuNA), a five-year study on respiratory infections among American Indian and Alaska native populations.
“This experience deepened my understanding of how Indigenous knowledge and Western health systems can complement each other to improve healthcare access and outcomes,” she says.
As a woman of many worlds, she says her unique perspective and strong Indigenous foundation have a major impact on her research.
“I describe myself as a woman of many worlds – Indigenous Fijian, raised in an urban setting, connected to traditional society, while working in academic and professional spaces shaped by western health systems,” she explains.
“This perspective shapes my research and reminds me to ask, listen and learn.”
Fiji Language Week is an opportunity to celebrate Fijian values and ensure future generations thrive.
As Sainimere states, “Language starts at home, but its impact reaches far beyond – it shapes how we live, learn and care for one another.”
