Albany staff taste Pasifika fare at campus umu

The appetising aroma of smoky cooked meat and vegetables lured Albany campus staff to a lunchtime umu last week.

The traditional Pasifika-style earth oven-cooked fare was organised by the Pasifika Directorate as a social event with a Pasifika flavour, following the success of last year’s umu.

Around 60 staff – some wearing colourful tropical attire and flower leis – tucked into baked chicken, pork cooked in coconut cream wrapped in taro leaves, luau (taro leaves cooked in coconut cream) and kumera. Food was covered in foil and banana leaves in the umu, and served with fresh coleslaw salad.

The feast, prepared on a grassed area behind the main campus, was followed by a performance by pupils from Northcote College who take part in Massey’s community of learning programme.

National project manager for the Pasfika@Massey strategy Ben Taufua told the crowd his team wanted to create an friendly, informal opportunity for staff to get together and to embrace the University’s Pasifika dimension. His team at the Pasifika Directorate is committed to promoting educational achievement for Pasifika students, under the proviso that “failure is not an option”.

“We need your help, because together we can do it,” he said.

Pasifika enrolments across the University’s three campuses are up by 10 per cent this year, from 517 in 2011 to 571 in 2012. At next month’s Albany graduation,19 Pasifika students will receive their degrees, including two master’s and one PhD. About 80 Pasifika students will graduate across the three campuses this year.