Sister2Sister
Pacific cervical screening campaign
When it comes to Pacific women, there’s no one size fits all. We are made up of many nationalities and cultures. One thing we have in common, across the islands, is our sense of sisterhood. Our sisters tell us the truth honestly and respectfully. That’s why we’re asking you to listen to your sisters when they tell you to look after your health.
Our six Pacific sisters below want to share with you why it’s important that you get screened so that you can get back to doing the things you love, for the people you love.
Talofa lava. My name's Mativa. I'm 57 years old. I was born in New Zealand. Brought up in West Auckland and my parents are Samoan.
I think sisterhood is anyone that well, I am in the ministry, so I would have a lot of young women and the elderly mothers who are in church. I'll call them my neighbor. Anyone who I'm able to share and educate around this particular screening. So it is important to me to be able to share to anyone. It's anyone that I come across that I have the opportunity to share about.... screening.
So a lot of things to do with the health for women. We weren't told. It wasn't explained to us because it was something I think parents never discussed. So I had to find out from friends and school or and you know, when it happened, I would go to them to ask. It was taboo in our household. So as I was growing up, I was learning from friends in school that when you had a period, I didn't know when I had it. I was never you know, told about it.
This is why it's important to me, because if I'd left it, it could have been worse. So every time I think about it, I think about my family. It is important to care for you first so that you can see your grandchildren.
So there's a Samoan proverb that goes like this... Seʻi luaʻi lou le ʻulu taumamao. Prevention is better than cure because a lot of us wait. Cause a lot of us wait. We have busy lives, busy at work. We always say we've got no time. We brush it off. But it is important. You know, 10 minutes of your time is a lifetime with your family.
From me to you, sister to sister, go and get your cervical screening done.
Mativa
Proud Samoan fafine, Mativa Tusega, leads a busy life as a mother, grandmother and Faletua, supporting her husband who is the Faifeau for PIC Church in Otara. Hear how cervical screening has been an integral part of her healthcare and, through prioritising it, how she's ensured a future with her much loved children and grandchildren.
Hi my name is Caroline. I'm 35 years old. I am born and raised in South Auckland. And yeah, that's me.
A lot of my sister's are like, remember to put yourself first because I'm very much a servant person. Like I will serve everyone else except for myself and a lot of my sisters have stopped me recently and were like, you need to like love on yourself just the way you've loved on us. But I think as a Polynesian woman, we were taught to be sort of like, like servanthood to everybody else. So self-love is kind of, it's a concept that is kind of hard for Polynesian women to, like, take in.
I think with my mother, she didn't really know how to sit down like, she was a single mom,so she was always at work a lot. So when we were to have conversations together, I didn't really know about cervical screening. We didn't really talk about personal health matters, especially like with like our womanly body. So I had to kind of find out everything by myself.
I did get a little bit of guidance, but a lot of what I learned was pretty much from my sisters, like I would mention like to them what was happening with my body. They're like, all you need to go and do this.
When I first did my screening, my cervical screening, it was a male. So I was very tense. I was very, yeah, it was pretty much like, this is what you do. Just jump on the table and I'll do this. But very uncomfortable. Not because of the doctor, but because I wasn't very aware of what was the process and what it was for. But when I spoke to my sisters, they were like, Oh, it's, this, this and this. And I was like, Oh, I get it.
So I screened regularly because I want to be here for my children. And I have a grandmother that has fought bowel cancer and my mom has her own battles as well. So I'm next in line. I'm direct lineage from my grandma. So my mom and now it's me. So I need to hurry up and look after myself.
And that's the reason why you need to go and get screened. Because there's no one else that's going to do it for you and yeah, you need to make sure that the generations to come will keep you as long as they can.
I have, like, my best friend, my best friend, sister slash cousin. She was talking to me and she was like, ah, I am three years late for my cervical screening. I'm not too sure. And I just looked at, I was like, excuse me, we need to go together. What is your appointment due? She was like on Wednesday. And I said, Okay, cool, I'm going to book in with you, let's go together so I can support my sister and just be a helping hand for her. And it was just funny that would be a week later that I would end up here.
It's just it's like there's people that rely on us. They need us to be here. So get in there and get screened and stay safe. And you're better to know than not.
From me to you, sister to sister, go and get the cervical screening done.
Caroline
Young Niuean Mum, Caroline Sionelua, knows how important it is to look after yourself, even with lots of responsibilities. She explains how important self-care is to her and how she supports her ‘sisters’ to keep on top of their health through regular cervical screening.
Mālō e lelei! My name is Pina. I'm 46 years old. Mother to 12 and a wife to a wonderful husband. I am born and bred in Ponsonby in Auckland and from a family of ten.
Growing up with my mum, who was very typical Tongan Catholic, so I didn't learn a lot about the birds and the bees from home. I learned more from growing up at school. The girls would talk about things and I had no idea what it was about or was like, yeah, I know, but really I didn’t know. It wasn't till I probably I was had my first child that I start to. I started to understand a little bit more about my body, and that's through just more deeper conversations with my doctor and things that I then needed to do and next steps for myself.
I regularly go and get my cervical screening done with my doctor. I have a male doctor and he is respectful of when I do go in and he will always ask me, are you comfortable with me doing it? Or would you prefer a female nurse? And I said, No, I'm actually fine. It's because I trust you. And so that makes my journey comfortable. And I know that the information that's going to come back is thorough.
It was one particular year that I did have a screening done and abnormalities were shown in there and it did scare me. But I was also grateful that it was picked up. I went down the road of having to go to a specialist and get things sorted, which was good. I after had some certain things removed from me, polyps had three polyps removed and biopsies done and I had to check for any cancerous things in that. But I was very clear.
But after that I was checked on a regular basis. It was six months after that and then the year and then yearly. But now I'm back to three years.
If I had ignored my reminders, if I ignored the txt, because you get it by text message and also by post. If I had ignored it, I know that things would have been different.
If my message gets out there to one woman, to one sister to go and get yourself checked. I feel that I've done my job. From me to you, sister to sister, going cervical screening, done.
Pina
From a large Tongan family, Pina Cocker’s regular cervical screening meant that her abnormal cells were identified and treated quickly. Pina advocates for Pacific ‘sisters’ to have the knowledge to take care of themselves, so that they can live their lives to the fullest.
Kia Ora and Kia Orana. So my name is Jaimee. I was born and raised in Tauranga. I found it interesting growing up in a place like that, where there wasn't that many Pacific Islanders. It wasn't until I moved back to Rarotonga that I kind of felt a sense of belonging.
I'm currently on the journey of trying to find out a bit more about who I am and what that looks like. In order to help and look after your family, look after others. You can't pour from an empty cup, so you need to make sure that you are looking after yourself. So cervical screening is an example of, you know, prioritizing yourself and making sure that you can pour from a full cup.
It probably goes back to the health classes that I had in school. You know, learning about our bodies and how they function. And also probably reading bits and pieces and things like... we had the Girlfriend magazine. Probably really showing my age here. And Dolly magazine. So seeing myself that way, and then just learning about the importance of cervical screening and keeping up to date with those checks.
I always request a female nurse. That's important. You know, I wouldn't feel comfortable with a man. So, and they are really nice and welcoming and make you feel comfortable and it's, you know, it's over really quick.
So what I would say to my sisters about getting, you know, a cervical screening test would be that, you know, you're important and there's only one you. You need to prioritize yourself. Health is wealth. So it's important to go get that check.
From me to you, sister to sister, go and get your cervical screening done.
Jaimee
Cook Island va’ine Jaimee Raymond and her sister actively learned about women’s healthcare from reading magazines when they were young. With friends that have had abnormal cells identified through cervical screening, she feels that cervical screening is a necessary step to health, wellness and fitness and should just be a standard part of women’s lives.
Bula Vinaka. My name is Limiva. I'm 30 years old and I'm from Nawaka Village in Nadi. I'm married with four kids.
I've got so many friends back in Christchurch that I've been like I'm accommodating them at home, I make friends with them,
but we are not related. I want to be a source of blessing to other people that I know... they need help from me. That's how I treat them as, they are my sisters.
It was the church women's ministry for the church. That's the first time I got my cervical screening done. The women were being asked to get a cervical screening done at the camp. Those were interesting, but we were all encouraged to get it done. So that's where I had mine.
That was the first time experience for me to get mine done. But I'm so lucky to get the cervical screening earlier than. What if I wouldn't have gone early? I would have found myself in a very difficult situation that it's going to be worse. But I'm so grateful that I made it.
I made the right decision to get the screening earlier. And I'm happy to do that. And I'm happy to inform my friends and others that it's better to do. I've been like sharing to my friends that it's very important to get a cervical screening. Cause we are suppose to do it as ladies. Come on, we should go and do this to make it happen before it's going to be too late. So we should know what's happening inside of us, so we should make it happen.
Limiva
As part of a large Fijian community in Christchurch, Limiva Naeva feels a responsibility to share information with her ‘sisters’ that will keep them healthy. Her own cervical screening journey and treatment means that she knows how important it is to have open conversations with each other.
So my name is Karin. I'm 49. I'm nearly 50. Very shortly. I am Samoan, Tokelauan and Palagi Kiwi descended from good Irish stock, hard workers and people that love music. So there's a lot of similarities between all of my ancestors actually.
I think. I think women. Women are incredible. We do a lot. Pacific women carry a lot of weight on our shoulders. And we you know, we love to do it, but we're busy. We are busy!
Anyway, one of my beautiful pacific wahine is my lovely sister, Teresa. She's always been really amazing about, you know, reminding us to look after ourselves and reminding us, you know, to go and have our appointments. And, you know, just keeps us accountable.
And so what she does is she sees it really gently and she gives you a look. And then she amplifies a little bit and then she gives you another look. You know.
And so it got to the point where I was like, I'm going to go, I'm going to go and do it. So I made my appointment. I told her... “Excellent”. And then I went to my appointment, came back to work and I said to her... “I’ve done my cervical screening”. And she looked at me and went... “GOOD GIRL!” And I was like, Yes!
But yeah, well, you know, without somebody like that, I would have just kept putting it at the bottom of my list. And to me it meant a lot because she cared enough to keep asking and holding me accountable. And she said it because she cared. And so I really appreciate her for that.
I believe that fundamentally we are, you know, we might think that we look special. But I do believe that they’ve (Doctors) seen enough to know that, you know, we're all pretty similar down there. And then if we were special, they would probably let us know instead of just saying “done and go”.
You know, life is busy. It really is. And yup, cervical screening isn't, you know, yoga or massage. But it's really important and it's good to get it done, get it out of the way, out of your mind, and then you can focus on other things.
And the thing about cervical screening is that it prevents cancer. And as someone who lost one of the parents at a very young age to a cancer you couldn't prevent, why wouldn't I then, you know, try and prioritize it as much as possible.
From me to you, sister to sister, go and get your cervical screening done.
Karin
Multi-nesian Karin Hall is a very busy lady. With a fulltime job, a business, three children and family responsibilities, this Tokelauan/Samoan/Palagi faces challenges in prioritizing herself. Support from her Pacific ‘sisters’ means that she is reminded to put herself first with regard to her health, so that she can continue to support others.
Where can I get screened?
Find out here who offers cervical screening in your area. You can choose who to go to. It could be your GP, or another provider such as Family Planning or a community health provider. It’s your choice.
Healthpoint websiteThe National Screening Unit can help you find someone to take your cervical screen. Give us a call on freephone 0800 729 729.