Joseph Fa-afiu runs the arts and music programmes at Faith City church in Manukau, South Auckland. Photo / Richard Robinson
To nominate an Unsung Hero for their community service and for terms and conditions go to: www.unsungheroes.org.nz
Joseph Fa-afiu counts the time he saw a former pupil working the till at a local Kmart store as one of his proudest moments.
The 29-year-old says he was blown away to see that kids who had dropped out or been kicked out of mainstream schools could put their mathematics
skills to use in paid work.
The father of four was nominated for the Herald Unsung Heroes series by his older brother Peter, who said his brother discovered untapped talent in kids whom mainstream schools believed were too difficult to teach.
Mr Fa-afiu - who is now a church pastor - began teaching children from gang families or who had been living on the streets, at the alternative education programme at Tangaroa College when he was 23.
He now runs the arts and music programmes at Faith City church in Manukau, where he also does much of the administration and helps out with the community fitness programme.
Mr Fa-afiu - whose wife Lydia runs a music and dance programme for young mums and their kids at the church - says he wants to show men in his multicultural community that they can enjoy being good fathers, husbands and sons.
"South Auckland has a lot of dysfunction [but] you can enjoy being a husband, enjoy being a dad, being a son to your mum and dad," he says.
At 29 he jokes he is getting less "relevant" to the teenagers in the church youth group and so he has passed on the job of youth pastor to focus on other jobs within the church.
Part of his philosophy is to make sure his own children enjoy life - although the family's dreams of buying a home have taken a back seat to their community work.
His brother Peter says Mr Fa-afiu postponed his goal of home ownership and career as a teacher to work in the community.
The family share a two-bedroom house rented from Lydia's parents.
The Unsung Community Heroes series is run annually in the Herald in partnership with P&O Cruises.
Readers are invited to nominate people who selflessly work to make a difference in their local communities.
Some will be selected to feature in the paper and five will be chosen to join a P&O winter cruise.
The Unsung Community Heroes series is run annually in the The Herald and on nzherald.co.nz in partnership with P&O Cruises. We invited nominations from readers to recognise people who selflessly work to make a difference in their local communities.
Some will be selected to feature in the paper and on nzherald.co.nz. Five will be chosen to join a P&O winter cruise.
