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Manukau Courier : May 24th 2013
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Friday, May 24, 2013 NETWORK Unbeatable coverage of readers 15+ 808,000 Auckland's most powerful media Ph 09 525 0666 Source: Nielsen CMI Q3 2011--Q2 2012 Have we got NEWS for you! News that you can Read, Hear & Watch! Our amazing new online editions take the news into a new dimension. Reads like a newspaper with easy-to-read turning pages -- and packed with extra features that connect you to news like never before. News coverage that puts you on the scene with Turn the page to a new era in local news -- the total multi media news experience! Just click on "Latest Edition" at www.manukaucourier.co.nz Turn on to our online editions NOW. The latest local news online -- anywhere, anytime. MULTIMEDIA YOUR NEWS Building the future By ANNA LOREN In the beginning the boys tried to offer to hammer nails in for meandIwaslike, 'No,Icando it, thank you very much'. Job complete: Sapoa Rimoni and her classmates built a three-bedroom house as part of their certificate. -- Sapoa Rimoni GRADUATIONS Qualified: Sapoa Rimoni receives her certificate in carpentry from Manukau Institute of Technology Faculty of Engineering and Trades dean Paul Jeurissen. Photo: QUIKPIX EVENT PHOTOGRAPHY MAKING IT IN A MAN'S WORLD BEING the only woman in a class full of men didn t hold Sapoa Rimoni back. The 24-year-old was the only female student to take on a certificate in carpentry course at Manukau Institute of Technology last year. It was a bit of a challenge trying to overcome the stereotype that was placed on me and showing that I can do what they do, she says. In the beginning the boys tried to offer to hammer nails in for me and I was like, No, I can do it, thank you very much . Then I d get higher marks than some of the guys in our practical assignments and they realised, This girl s our competition, we should stop helping her out ! The Mangere woman is one of 4535 graduates receiv- ing degrees, diplomas, certi- ficates and other awards from MIT this week. She s the first person in her family to receive a ter- tiary qualification and says her relatives are all stoked to see her graduate. Mrs Rimoni, who is of Tongan and Samoan des- cent, discovered her interest in carpentry when she moved into a small unit in Mangere with her husband and two young sons. I wanted to create a home for my boys and so decided to start fixing it up a little. Basically I googled how to do everything and, with very little budget, renovated the kitchen, reclad and re- roofed. Her mentor Paul Siope, a pastor at Calvary Com- munity Church, nominated her to study at MIT through the Tertiary Education Com- mission s Pasifika Trades Training initiative. The scheme funds trades training for young Pacific Islanders at polytechnics throughout the country. Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce this month announced a commitment of $43 million over the next four years to increase Pasi- fika and Maori Trades Train- ing places from 600 to 3000. That comes at just the right time for MIT, faculty of engineering and trades dean Paul Jeurissen says. We have already sched- uled a full range of flexible opportunities for education and training in priority trade areas starting in June. MIT is also introducing an earn and learn initiative to fill future skills shortages across the Auckland region. This initiative and the drive to find flexible ways for students to complete their qualifications is our commit- ment to ensure that people can get into a skilled job in months, not years, Mr Jeur- issen says. A key feature of the Pasifika Trades Training programme at MIT is the close working relationship between the institute and Pacific church leaders and Mrs Rimoni says those links were a lifesaver when things got tough. It was really hard some- times -- that s just being honest. The support of my hus- band, my family and my church -- they helped me get through the rough bumps when I felt like giving up, she says. Mrs Rimoni and her fellow students learnt the basics of construction and built a three-bedroom timber fra- med house over the course of the year. I learnt so much -- I m a very hands-on type of person, she says. Mrs Rimoni has now enrolled in a two-year New Zealand diploma in civil engineering. MIT is conferring 508 degrees, 563 diplomas and 3464 certificates and other awards during the course of this week. Two main graduation ceremonies for diploma and degree recipients will be held tomorrow at the Vodafone Events Centre. The first will be held at 11am with guest speaker Mayor Len Brown and the second, at 4pm, will feature Maungakiekie MP Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga as guest speaker. A celebratory lunch service for MIT's 1479 Pacific Island graduates will be held on Sunday at 2pm at the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Papatoetoe. A Maori graduation celebration for MIT's 771 Maori graduates will be held on Wednesday at 6pm at Nga Kete Wananga Marae at MIT's Otara Campus.
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