BY LORETTA B MANELE
The Solomon Islands Victoria Association (SIVA) is about bringing every Solomon Islander in Victoria, Melbourne together through organised events simply so they can feel at home.
Nancy Fugui who resides in Melbourne spoke about this with the paper last month.
She explained that the association started back in 1980 and at the time, it was mainly for Solomon Islands students studying in Melbourne or Solomon Islanders who were travelling but had to stay a few days in Melbourne.
Fugui said today the association has grown bigger in terms of the members they have due to having a lot of PALM Scheme workers going over to Melbourne for work in 2022.
“So today, we, the association would go and meet them and make them feel at home.
“So, we have more members and the association is bigger,” she said.
Fugui expressed that the main aim of SIVA is to bring all Solomon Islanders in Victoria, Melbourne together through events like sports events, bazar and Independence Day celebrations.
She highlighted that for the Solomon Islands Independence Day celebrations, SIVA would ask all members to attend the event and perform cultural dances, a lullaby or anything to showcase the culture of their provinces.
“We’re not just bringing everyone together but we are also showing casing culture,” she said.
Fugui also mentioned that at SIVA, they all respect each other and their cultures.
She pointed out that it’s very important that new members and the young ones who grow up there to be a part of the association.
“We also want them to understand our culture and to keep our culture alive,” she said.
Fugui emphasised that SIVA is about bringing Solomon Islanders in Melbourne together through organised events and working together as a family so that although they are far from home they can feel at home and be able to achieve their aims while in Melbourne, Australia.
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