Clare Mafi is the Advanced Social Work Clinician for Community Midwifery Service committed to serving her community. Proud to be Tongan, Clare is from Fo'ui, where her father hails from, a village located on the Western side of the main island of Tongatapu.
"My father came to New Zealand at the peak of the dawn raids and managed to secure permanent residence where mum and us four kids came over in the early ‘70s, eventually settling in South Auckland."
"It was exciting, but there was the language barrier; I first learned English through music lyrics.”
Clare had moved back to Tonga where she married and raised her five children, her husband worked for the fourth-generation family business and returned to New Zealand in 2012.
"It's one of the most valuable experiences that I'm very proud of for my children to be fluent in their language, aware of their roots and history of their maternal and paternal side."
After working at the Ministry of Social Development and Work and Income, Clare changed paths.
"I saw the challenges families were facing and at that point in my career I didn't feel I had the skills and tools to support people in the areas where I wanted to do more."
"So, I earned my degree at University of Auckland, spending four years full time as a mature student to achieve this. It's now been five years as a Social Worker with Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora in Counties Manukau."
Starting in the Women's Health Team, Clare wanted to go into the community to see what issues women and families were struggling with that prevented them from engaging with the service.
"There are three of us in our social work team within the Community Midwifery Service and we work alongside the midwives, receiving referrals from them. A stigma is attached to the profession's name of social work – part of that is us needing to further educate our community about our role."
"It's not easy to bring their walls down. In Tongan culture, it's about Loto Fakatōkilalo (humility). It is not the culture norm to discuss personal topics or problems, especially with strangers. So, I feel privileged to be in my position and for people to trust me enough to share their narratives and challenges."
Clare says being fluent in her language has helped build stronger connections, especially when supporting Tongan families migrating to NZ under the Pacific Quota Scheme.
"As Tongans, we value giving and receiving as a collective. We grew up in South Auckland - it's home, so there's nothing alien about what happens here. This is my village."