Connecting through the Va

Pakilau Manase Lua, GLE’s Pacific Lead shares his reflections having recently attended the inaugural Commonwealth Healthcare Corporation’s Population Health Summit, in Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands. Below he describes how he and colleagues shared their insights and experiences with policy makers, researchers and other health professionals.  They covered a range of topics and strategies relating to suicide prevention, the power of cultural integrity and the importance of holding space for genuine collaboration to improve population health within island communities.

I recently had the opportunity to travel as a member of a small team of four from Le Va based in New Zealand to Saipan in the US administered Pacific Territory of the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). We were invited and sponsored by the Commonwealth Healthcare Corporation (CHCC) of the CNMO to attend their inaugural Population Health Summit. The event theme was ‘Navigating Pathways Through the Pacific: Building Healthier and Stronger Island Communities’ and it was held at the Crowne Plaza Resort on Garapan, Saipan. Suffice to say that it was truly an amazing and humbling experience for me.

Prior to the Summit and building up to it, Le Va Chief Executive Denise Kingi-Ulu’ave and I, had attended the Executive Training and Leadership Development Meeting and Workshops funded by SAMHSA in Washington DC in March 2023. This was in partnership with Global Leadership Exchange through Steve Appleton and Fran Silvestri. This is where I first met James Arriola, Reyna Saures and the other members of the Pacific Behavioural Health Coordinating Council (PBHCC). We have maintained very strong connections and relationships ever since. In fact, we hosted some of the PBHCC in New Zealand first in 2024 and again this year for Le Va’s very successful Global Pacific Solutions conference in April 2025. They returned the favour by hosting us in Saipan for the Summit in June of 2025.

Denise and I opened the Summit joining a plenary session titled ‘Culture and Wellness’, weaving insights into the enduring value of Indigenous ways of knowing and doing, and how they must sit at the centre of any sustainable wellbeing system. Our talanoa (conversation) about the concept of the “Va” or the space that related, echoed throughout the summit. The “Va” is not empty space but relational space and this concept reverberated throughout the Summit sessions on healing, data equity and behavioural health.

My two other Ler Va colleagues Leilani and Tiana participated in the panel session ‘Addressing Suicide Prevention Strategies in the Blue Continent’, where they presented on Le Va’s LifeKeepers and FLO: Pasifika for Life suicide prevention programmes. Their contributions highlighted the critical importance of aligning clinical safety with cultural and community responsiveness. The kōrero (discussion) was both sobering and inspiring, shedding light on the persistent suicide rates across Pacific nations while showcasing the strength of collective action, cultural reconnection and enduring hope.

Together, Leilani and Tiana brought forward voices grounded in the va – relationships, connection, and sacred space.  They reminded us that suicide prevention does not begin within systems alone, but in the everyday spaces that shape our lives: the home, the village, the church, the school. Their kōrero affirmed that lived stories carry the same weight as data, and that community wisdom must sit at the heart of any meaningful response to suicide.

After the summit, more than 20 first responders and crisis response workers gathered with intention and purpose to participate in Mana Akiaki: LifeKeepers for Māori training. Our team delivered this full-day training to showcase how suicide prevention can be meaningfully grounded in Indigenous knowledge systems and relational practice. Their hope was to witness firsthand how a culturally tailored programme could look and feel, so they might explore how to do the same for the rich diversity of their own island communities across the Pacific.

The wairua (spirit) in the room was deeply felt and participants honoured the kaupapa (theme of the event) with humility and fierce dedication, many moved to tears by the cultural integrity of the programme and how closely it resonated with their own Indigenous worldviews. The sharing was raw, real and restorative, reminding us all that cultural identity is not just a foundation for wellbeing, but a powerful pathway to healing.

I am humbled and privileged to be the Pacific Lead for GLE as well as working for Le Va and the WISE Group. I believe we have a huge role to play in building and connecting through the “Va” for a healthy Blue Moana Continent we call Te Moana Nui a Kiwa or the Pacific Ocean.

Tu’a ofa atu (love)

Pakilau Manase Lua
Pacific Lead – GLE