The Auckland Central Catholic Kahui Ako has made a donation of school supplies, sports gear and other items to the Samoa Victim Support Group's Campus of Hope.

One of the young members of the group, 18-year-old Elijah Leituala was delighted to be in Samoa and to donate supplies for the children of the Campus of Hope alongside his two brothers.

“The trip was to help and give to the children in need and to families who have been through a lot and we give what we can to help them through their healing process,” he said. “We brought a bit of some clothes, toys, books and pencils, and sports gear.

"We hope that they can stay strong, keep going and never give up and we hope the supplies will encourage them. Be kind to others and others will be kind to you.”

His 15-year-old sibling Marius Leituala added that the trip back to Samoa was a great learning experience for him and his brothers.

“It has been really eye-opening coming here to Samoa, seeing the children and seeing some of them with mental scars of what they’ve gone through and some of them physical," he said. "We hope as teenage boys we can do the best we can to help them.”

The Auckland Central Catholic Kahui Ako is made up of 15 Catholic-run schools from central Auckland and this is part of their responsibility in doing service. 

Makerita Tagomoa Papalii, who is the organiser of the visiting New Zealand group, spoke of how much their donations to the Campus of Hope meant for them.

“We don’t take the work lightly, it’s serious to us and we just want our Samoan people to help this organisation who have done a lot of good for the children and their families. We have been doing this since 2016.

“When we came before there were not too many buildings and now we see these playgrounds and extra buildings and that delights us because we know the funding is going in the right place. It’s a good confirmation of we are making a difference with the supplies we donate."