Balancing Anga Faka-Tonga - the Tongan way of life - with financial wellbeing by University of Auckland PhD candidate Victoria Ongolea (Lapaha Tongatapu, Kundiawa, Simbu Province) and Professor Carla Houkamau (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāi Tahu and Pākehā) has been published in MAI Journal. Ongolea, a financial wellbeing coach for Good Shepherd NZ, was born in the highlands of Kundiawa Papua New Guinea, and raised in Lapaha Tongatapu, Tonga. She migrated to New Zealand with her family almost a decade ago and in the early years, the family numbered over a dozen under one roof, before the eventual move to settle into their own place.
Ongolea began working as a financial mentor for Tāmaki Budgeting, and became aware of the realities of life in Aotearoa for Pacific peoples. “It opened my eyes to the struggle that my people were going through, which motivated this research to understand and amplify our voices, and find practical solutions to how to help my people.”.