Caring community in mourning

Principal Brent Lewis says Avondale College is drawing strength from the messages of sympathy that have come from around the country. Picture / Richard Robinson

Avondale College principal Brent Lewis summed it up: Avondale is a family. His school is one of Auckland's biggest and best, drawing students from throughout the western and central suburbs.

Few leave without a qualification.

But senseless tragedy strikes the best of families and on Sunday night Auckland's spiral of extreme teen violence reached Avondale's doorstep.

The Hip Hop for God event in the college auditorium attracted locals like 14-year-old Manaola Kaumeafaiva, who lived a stone's throw from the school in Holly St.

It also drew teenagers from further afield, including a 16-year-old from the other side of town who was armed with a knife.

There is nothing to indicate that Mana knew his killer.

Mana, a Year 9 student, was an impish kid and everybody's friend.

He had spent the day with his staunchly religious Tongan parents, who dropped him at the dance around 8pm. A security guard's impression that he had been drinking was wrong, say those close to the family.

Shortly before 9pm Mana left the crowded auditorium for some fresh air and lingered outside, waiting for a friend to return from the dairy with a pie.

But fate lurked in the form of a youth from Mt Wellington, allegedly yelling abuse.

"He was shouting 'F*** West Side'," said Walter, Mana's 14-year-old mate.

"Mana said 'Oh, good bro', and the guy came up to him and said, 'You have an eye problem?'

"Mana said, 'It's all right, bro', and the guy just got out a pocket knife and stabbed Mana in the chest."

A 16-year-old who ran to help was also stabbed, receiving moderate injuries. Mana died in Walter's arms.

Extreme violence among Auckland youth gangs has troubled police for the past 18 months, but the worst offending has been in Mangere, Otara and Glen Innes.

Avondale has its share of teen gangs, such as the Canal St Thugs, JDK (Junior Don Kings) and DMS (Drugs Money Sex).

But West Auckland police have reported success with several initiatives, including a crackdown in April on repeat young offenders.

Mana neither drank nor smoked, nor was he involved with teen gangs, say friends and family. His tagging name was Dawn, but he saved it for his exercise books, said a friend.

His slaying was a random act, inquiry head Greg Cramer said.

"There is nothing to suggest there was any form of provocation."

Mana had come to New Zealand from Tonga, where his parents were born, said a relative.

He attended Rosebank Primary and Avondale Intermediate before moving this year to the adjoining college.

He was an outfielder in Avondale's junior softball team. After school he would play basketball with friends at Eastdale Reserve, next to the college and around the corner from his home.

One friend described him as "caring and responsible - he always took care of us". Another student, who had known Mana since they attended Rosebank together, said he was "a kind person, friendly, funny".

His 19-year-old brother Ben said he was "a jokester. No way would he look for trouble. He was too young." Mana was a "funny, goofy boy" who was "in the wrong place at the wrong time".

Mana lived with his parents, two brothers and two sisters in a white weatherboard house nestled beneath mature trees in Holly St. It's a nice street of substantial 1950s and 60s bungalows which meanders between the college and a mangrove-fringed bay of the harbour. Gardens are well-tended and lawns kept trim.

A blue tarpaulin hung down one side of the carport this week to shelter the steady stream of friends and relatives arriving to pay respects and sit and talk at barbecue tables.

Mana's family politely rebuffed media approaches until after this morning's funeral, wanting to keep him to themselves.

It was too soon to share his memory with the outside world.

"It's very hard," his father said.

Locals went about their business. Calls and laughter drifted across from the nearby reserve.

It's a neighbourhood where teens meet after dinner to talk and play ball and older residents walk small dogs.

The kids are well-mannered - smiling and saying hello to strangers. There's no sign of graffiti.

When school reopened on Wednesday, Mr Lewis said the response would be a test of the community's strength. As students grieved in their own way or sought counselling, the school community rallied, drawing strength from messages of sympathy from around the country.

At a marae-style tribute last night, the family were presented with a substantial koha and the school choir sang Mana's favourite hymn.

Said Mr Lewis: "There has been a huge outpouring of support and sympathy, which says a lot about the school and community."

* A 16-year-old facing a possible murder charge after Manaola Kaumeafaiva was stabbed has been moved out of police cells where he has been held since his arrest on Monday.

Police said yesterday that a place had been found for the accused in a youth unit.