For the former Tongan journalist, broadcaster, editor and poet Sione Tu’itahi, it was like a homecoming, walking into the lobby of the Samoa Observer office at Vaitele early in the week.

After all, he had not seen his good friends, the Samoa Observer Editor-in-Chief, Gatoaitele Savea Sano Malifa and the Publisher, Muliaga Jean Ash Malifa for a very long time. In his last stint with the Pacific media some three decades ago – when Gatoaitele and Muliaga were active members of a thriving Pacific Islands News Association (PINA) – he was the deputy editor of the Tonga Chronicle, publishing out of the Tongan capital Nuku'alofa. They shared many PINA conferences together and had recollections of the golden age of Pacific journalism.

On Tuesday this week, it was a sombre moment for Mr. Tu’itahi, catching up with old friends and reminiscing on the good times. In an interview with this newspaper, he recalled how his life changed in 1994 when he left Tonga for New Zealand for medical treatment after he broke his leg, his relocation to the Land of the Long White Cloud bring an end to his involvement with the Pacific media.

"I left for New Zealand in 1994 because I broke my leg, I fell off and broke my leg. I was the freedom information officer for PINA at the time, the edition that came soon after my accident carried an article of my leaving for New Zealand," said Mr. Tu’itahi. "As you can see it was not planned, I had to leave for 4 months and when I got out, the doctors said I must stay [in New Zealand]."

Mr. Tu’itahi said he decided to teach and ended up at Auckland University teaching Pacific Studies, with a focus on the Tongan language and culture, before moving to Massey University where he switched from academia to administration. It was at Massey University that he conceptualised a university strategy that was Pacific-focused, which he said will lead to an increase in Pacific student intake and have multiple other Pacific-related benefits.

"I initiated the idea of having a strategy because I saw if we continue to teach only without a strategy, we won't increase the number of students coming in. We won't increase Pacific courses within the university, we won't be doing as much research on Pacific issues," the former deputy editor said. "That was 1998 to 2012 so in 2012 I decided to establish, initially, it was my idea. 

"I saw opportunities, conceptualised, initiated the conversation. There were resistance and pros and cons, but it was clear that was a need for that so we informed the university, the university accepted gradually that it is timely so it was a team effort."

And it was at Massey University that another door opened for him – he was invited to set up the first Pacific team at the Auckland Regional Public Health Service and went on to become its first manager with Pacific Islands heritage. 

"This service is part of Auckland District Health Board, at that time in New Zealand there were 21 district health boards, this is the structure of the health sector in New Zealand funded all by the Ministry of Health," said Mr. Tu’itahi. "I was invited to set up the public health event there so basically I was working for some 20 years in the health sector and the education sector and then. 

"I was the first Pacific Manager at the Auckland Regional Public Health Service, I was doing similar work i.e. strategic planning, recruitment of staff, training them in engaging, setting up what we were supposed to be doing and engaging with the communities and all that."

Having developed a knack for overseeing successful Pacific-focused programs in New Zealand, and having a large footprint in the Aotearoa health sector, Mr. Tu’itahi was then invited to establish the Pacific chapter of the national non-government organisation, Health Promotion Forum of New Zealand, while on secondment from the Massey University.

"I was sharing my time between that NGO in 2005 with Massey University until 2012 I thought that I’d done the job and left Massey and worked full-time with the NGO and that’s where I am at the moment. I am the Executive Director of the Health Promotion Forum of New Zealand."

The former Tongan deputy editor has come a long way since his newspaper days, but he has credited his journalism background for his success in New Zealand, where he has led pioneering work focusing on the Pacific at the university level as well as New Zealand's health promotion sector.

Last year another feather was added to his cap when he was elected the Global President of the International Union for Health Promotion and Education (IUHPE) – the first indigenous person to head a global NGO focused on health promotion around the world.  

But amid all these successes, Mr. Tu’itahi has another assignment yet, writing a book that will also serve as his PhD thesis. So besides visiting the Samoa Observer and taking his wife Tupou to worship together at the Baháʼí House of Worship at Tiapapata on the outskirts of Apia, visiting the National University of Samoa's library for research connected to his book and PhD thesis was also a top priority. 

"We went to the service yesterday [Monday] and today [Tuesday] is the second one of visiting Sano, if not only Jean and firstly, to do a little bit of research at the National University of Samoa," he said. "It is not much, just checking a few facts and things from the library. This research is for two purposes: one is to write a book that reflects my journey in New Zealand but it will go beyond that, way back to my time in Tonga where I am from originally.

"It will be written in the Tongan language...the topic is the contribution of indigenous Tongan knowledge and other indigenous Pacific knowledge to promoting the well-being of the planet and humanity."