Soon-to-be graduate ‘proud'
Junior So'oula will graduate from the Cargill Academy training programme on Monday. PHOTO: LINDA ROBERTSON
For the first time in his life, Junior So'oula has somewhere to go — and he is not wasting any time getting there.
The 41-year-old New Zealand-born Samoan has a cognitive barrier to learning, so he finds it difficult to retain information.
At school, he fell through the cracks, leaving in year 11 without any qualifications.
He then went through a string of labouring jobs, which would only last a couple of weeks at a time, and he was left feeling lost — he felt he had no identity, no purpose in life and no idea what the future held for him.
In 2005, he became mentally unwell and he was referred to Cargill Enterprises by his medical team in a bid to give him some purpose in life.
"I was a bit unsure about it, but I thought I would give it a go. I don't regret it," he said.
"This place has given me really good support, the bosses are lovely and the workers here are inspiring."
More recently, he was invited to join the Cargill Academy, where he and about 20 others were given literacy, numeracy, digital literacy, financial literacy and life-skills training to help them become more independent.
"It's been a long road to recovery, but I have become a more loving and caring person because of it.
"I will still struggle, but I am more equipped to cope now.
"I feel I am more able to figure out solutions better."
Cargill Enterprises chief executive officer Geoff Kemp said Mr So'oula was very timid and shy when he first arrived, and it was heart-warming to see him "come out of his shell" and be much more confident.
And best of all, he now had direction in his life.
He said the academy had provided him with "stepping stones" to reach his goals.
He planned to do another year of study there, which would help him get his driver's licence and, ultimately, help him find a job in the community.
Ideally, Mr So'oula said he would love to find a job where he could help other people.
"I've got goals and no-one's going to hold me back from achieving them now."
Last year, the Tertiary Education Commission stopped underwriting the programme, and there were fears the academy would have to shut down after just one year.
Fortunately, the public rallied around the academy and gave money to keep the programme running and Literacy Aotearoa provided tutors.
It meant the academy was able to continue operating and would remain open next year.
Mr Kemp said if the programme was not around, people like Mr So'oula would get lost in the system and their full potential would never be realised.
"Their options in life are drastically reduced. They would just drift from one thing to the next ... they get trapped.
"The academy gives them an opportunity to flourish."
He said most of the Cargill Enterprises "family" had very few academic achievements, so graduating was "a really big deal" to them, their support people and their parents.
"The parents will go, 'I never expected my son or daughter to get an academic award'."
On Monday, Mr So'oula will officially graduate from his first year at the academy.
"It feels fantastic and I feel very proud," he said.
john.lewis@odt.co.nz
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RNZ News
an hour ago
- RNZ News
New Zealand's mean testing creep
Photo: 123RF Means testing is being introduced on a wide range of benefits. Questions are being asked over how long it will be before superannuation is targeted. Whatever age we're at, means testing for benefits is creeping into our lives. From the Best Start allowance for parents of newborns, to the parents of teens applying for Jobseeker, and those in Kiwisaver earning over $180,000. But when it comes to the old age pension, means testing is too touchy politically, says NZ Herald political editor Thomas Coughlan. He tells The Detail why the pension is off limits, for now. "There are things we get universally. Universal free education, a lot of health services are free. But cash payments, those are mostly means tested with one big exception." Every New Zealander who hits 65 is entitled to NZ Superannuation. "You could be a billionaire or you could have absolutely nothing and you will get it. "Culturally, politically we tell ourselves that we earn superannuation, we work hard we pay taxes our whole lives and when you retire you deserve to get the benefit from the government that you have paid for for your entire working life. That is the political bargain, I guess, at the heart of superannuation." Means testing superannuation is also not as straight forward as other benefits where Inland Revenue knows exactly how much beneficiaries or their parents earn. But most superannuitants don't work, making a means test on income difficult to manage. That leaves asset or wealth testing "which is just uranium wrapped in barbed wire". Coughlan says raising the retirement age is seen as the better of "two horrible options" and National has already signalled plans to gradually raise it to 67. But that is also fraught. The Retirement Commissioner Jane Wrightson doesn't like either option but is "more keen on the consideration of means testing than I am of raising the age". "But if that became a thing (raising the retirement age) then I would be arguing that it's a really comprehensive and well thought through policy change that considers a retirement system as a whole, not just about NZ Super, not just about Kiwisaver but the impact overall on future citizen New Zealand pensioners," Wrightson says. She calls the debate around superannuation a gender issue. "The commentators are mainly men. The issues around NZ Super, and who gets it and when, need to be looked at with a really strong gender lens because women are the ones who get disproportionately affected." The Detail also talks to pensioner Doug Beever in Australia where the pension kicks in at 67 and is means tested. Beever says he's happy with the arrangement because all of his working life he has been paying into a private retirement fund, a compulsory version of a Kiwisaver scheme that has been in place for decades. Wrightson says that is the difference between the two countries and why we can't copy Australia's pension model. The historic superannuation plan is a reason why the country is quite well off, "because those funds are in the billions and billions now. And secondly, people have got a decent pot themselves, so when you get that you can absolutely then talk about means testing, you can talk about raising the age ... you've got more levers to your bow when your citizens have been protected by a decent regulatory environment. "This is not what's happened here." Check out how to listen to and fol low The Detail here . You can also stay up-to-date by liking us on Facebook or following us on Twitter . Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
an hour ago
- RNZ News
Migrant communities celebrate parent visa, amid concerns it'll lock many out
Parents and their sponsor will need to meet a range of health and income requirements to qualify for the new visa. Photo: RNZ Migrant communities are hailing a new visa which will allow parents of New Zealand citizens and residents to visit multiple times over a five-year period. Applications for the visa - announced by the government yesterday - will open from 29 September, with parents and their sponsor needing to meet a range of health and income requirements. But the Green Party has concerns it would lock out all but the most wealthy. The Parent Boost visa allows migrants to sponsor their parents to visit and stay in New Zealand for up to five years, with the option to extend for five more. The prime minister said it would mean a lot for many families. "Many, many other countries around the world have started to back off from visas like this. But it's so important to our migrant community, when we know how hard they work, and what they're doing to try and raise their families and strengthen their communities, and we want to be able to support them in this way," Christopher Luxon said. To get the visa, parents will need to have an eligible sponsor, meet acceptable character and health standards, and have at least one year of health insurance coverage providing emergency medical cover, repatriation, return of remains, and cancer treatment. While offshore during the third year of their visa, the parent would need to complete a new medical assessment and demonstrate they had maintained their insurance. The sponsor must also earn the median wage to sponsor one parent, or one and a half times the median wage for both parents. Otherwise, the parent or parents must have an ongoing income aligning with the superannuation rate, or have available funds of $160,000 for a single parent or $250,000 for both, to see them through the duration of their visa. Both National and ACT campaigned on a parent visitor visa in 2023. The policy was secured in the coalition agreement, although ACT wanted an annual $3500 fee, which would go into a public health fund, and ensure the visa was self-funding. ACT immigration spokesperson Parmjeet Parmar was at the announcement and while she was celebrating it, she said she did not want to see any situations where migrants were forced to remortgage their house to pay for emergency hospital bills. "Having a health insurance component is helpful, but sometimes it can also be a risk if the health insurance co-pay doesn't cover the cost, because I don't want to see any sponsor in any kind of debt," she said. Immigration minister Erica Stanford said the insurance component was necessary. "When you come to New Zealand on a visitor visa, there is no ability for you to go into the public service and receive healthcare. That's why, when you're here for five years, there needs to be that insurance component," she said. Insurance from an overseas provider would also be eligible. Luxon was confident the right balance had been struck. "We have to find the balance where you've got visitors from overseas who then want to access public services in New Zealand, but yet they haven't been taxpayers for 40 years, and that's not fair on New Zealanders who are here. But equally, we don't want it to be so onerous and unachievable," Luxon said. Ethnic and Faith Communities Network convenor Abdur Razzaq said the announcement was a long time coming, and was a significant step towards ensuring ethnic minorities in New Zealand would feel like they were part of New Zealand's fabric. "What we have got now is families who can be actually families," he said. He said many doctors, engineers, and IT professionals had been leaving New Zealand because their parents could not come. "Canada has had this for a long time, and it's worked." Razzaq believed it struck the right balance so there would not be burdens on the health and housing sectors. Daljit Singh from the Supreme Sikh Society said he had been lobbying Parliament for this kind of visa for years. "It's a benefit to every migrant in this country. It is the opportunity for parents to stay with their children," he said. But Singh continued to have concerns about the income thresholds. "There is still a gap between rich and poor. Everybody wants, actually, to stay with their parents." The Green Party's immigration spokesperson Ricardo Menéndez March said the income requirements would lock out thousands of migrant families. "Low-waged workers that National called essential during the pandemic will be missing out on being able to have their parents living with them in their new homeland," he said. Menéndez March had concerns that when the visas expired, migrants would end up sending more money offshore instead of in New Zealand, and using up weeks of leave to see their ageing parents. The visa is not a pathway to residency. Parents would not be able to work in New Zealand, but would be able to do remote work for their offshore employer. Luxon said checks and balances would be in place to ensure parents and their sponsors met their obligations. "I know people will respect it, but it's really important that people meet their obligations, and so there will be stronger enforcement as well associated to make sure that people are not abusing the system or taking advantage of the system," he said. The existing $441 Parent and Grandparent visitor visa allows relatives to stay for six months at a time, for a maximum of 18 months over a three year period. A separate Parent Resident visa lets parents live in New Zealand indefinitely, but comes with English language requirements, costs $5810, and needs an expression of interest before being invited to apply. They can apply for permanent residence after ten years. There is also a Parent Retirement Resident visa which costs $12,850, and requires parents to have an adult child who is a New Zealand citizen or resident living in New Zealand, have at least $1 million to invest in New Zealand for four years and at least $500,000 for settlement, and an annual income of at least $60,000. After the four years, the parent can apply for permanent residence. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
9 hours ago
- RNZ News
'Changing paperwork is not going to fix funeral debt': Association slams call to remove funeral directors as cremation middlemen
Photo: 123RF The New Zealand Funeral Directors Association is disputing calls from the advocacy group Death Without Debt to remove them as cremation middlemen. It follows comments from Death Without Debt spokesperson Fergus Wheeler who said funeral directors were costing people money. He explained that two doctors were required to sign off on a death for cremation - the first would have seen the body and made notes about the cause of death, and a second doctor was required sign-off on that paperwork. Currently, the system was set up so that people needed a funeral director to facilitate this second sign-off, with funeral directors billing the family for doing so - but legally, it did not have to be done this way. Wheeler called for a tweak to the Ministry of Health's existing online death documents system, allowing the first doctor's paperwork to be uploaded to the cloud to be checked by the second doctor, without the need for the funeral director to forward it on. But Funeral Directors Association chief executive Gillian Boyes said reducing the amount of paper work is not going to fix funeral debt for families. "Mr Wheeler is suggesting somehow that paperwork is what's causing the price of funerals and that's just simply not true," she said. "Anyone can do the paperwork, but many people choose to use the services of a funeral director because the funeral director is doing all the other things that are needed, such as transporting, you know, the deceased, preparing them, supporting the family, arranging the funeral, all those things are the things that cost money." Boyes said on average a simple cremation funeral could cost around $7,000 while a simple burial was usually around $10,000 to $12,000. She said there were three issues compounding funeral debt for New Zealanders. "One is you've got to have price transparency. Now, that's something that members of the Funeral Directors Association have, but not all funeral directors are required to be transparent in their pricing, so if you don't know what you're signing up for, you can't control your costs. "A second thing is an increase in the asset testing limit for prepaid funerals. That's set at $10,000 for many, many years. If people could put aside a more realistic amount, such as $15,000, then they won't go into debt because they'll have already put aside the correct amount of money. "The third thing is an increase in the Work and Income funeral grant, so that really is the protection for people who have no money at all and that's at a really unrealistic amount of about $2600 at the moment." She said funeral directors are all private businesses who have to make money in order to continue offering services. "The only support government provides is to those who are very vulnerable, so they can apply for a funeral grant through Work and Income. "Now, your income levels have to be incredibly low for that. So it really only helps a tiny percentage of the population, everyone else has to fund it themselves. "There's all sorts of issues with the Act at the moment that need resolving, tidying, making it a fairer process for New Zealanders. "The current laws are dated 1964, the Government did a first principles review of those but there's been very little action on the many, many recommendations that came out of that review. "So we think it's well overdue for the government to actually finish that work, provide better support for families, provide clearer rules around funerals, and just help the industry out. "But, you know, just changing paperwork is not going to fix funeral debt." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
