The Vaka Pride committee visited six different flower gardens nominated by the public as well as six community clinics around the island under the Peu Maori category. Points towards the Peu Maori category will be dependent on the preservation of traditional practices, environmental innovations, overall maintenance and community effectiveness of programmes.

The Vaka Pride committee scored the flower gardens based on its maintenance, innovative methods of planting and a bonus point towards the use of the flowers. The Vaka Pride committee were impressed with the variety of flowers being planted on the island, the medicinal purposes described by some avid gardeners and the standard of the beautiful gardens that were visited on the day.

The community clinics were judged based on the maintenance of the facility and the effectiveness of their programmes. This initiative was driven by the Cook Islands National Council of Women through their work under the Child welfare division. The hard working caretakers of the community clinics were very welcoming of the Vaka Pride committee during the site visits and astounded them with the amount of work that they had done for the community.

The Vaka Pride prize giving will coincide with the White Ribbon awareness campaign through the Ministry of Internal Affairs on the 22nd of November. For more information on the Vaka Pride competition please contact Sieni Tiraa at Cook Islands Tourism Corporation [email protected]