Church members start Walkathon for Pasifika health

Suicide rates among Pasifika ethnicities are some of the highest in the world.

Members of Palmerston North’s Pasifika community are putting one foot in front of the other for mental health.

Florence Malama knows what it is like to lose a family member to suicide.

Malama is encouraging people to get out and speak up about the problem at a Walkathon event she and members of her Pasifika church have organised.

The event came about because of the range of issues members of the Samoan Methodist Church, their families and friends had faced.

These included problems related to mental and physical health, and youth suicide.

Suicide rates among Pasifika ethnicities were some of the highest in the world, she said.

Traditionally, in the Samoan culture, mental health was not a topic often discussed because it was ‘‘an embarrassment’’.

It was easier for people to push it to the side.

‘‘We still have a lot of our elder members here who grew up in Samoan society, so there’s a stigma around those type of issues that you don’t talk about those things.’’

But today’s Pasifika community were trying to bridge the generational gap.

‘‘I think we a have a collective social responsibility to be able to educate the next generation to help reduce those rates and just prevent any further harm.’’

The Walkathon is open to all community members.

It will be held at Bill Brown Park in Palmerston North on Saturday, October 28, between 10am and 1pm.