The spirit of unity has shone brightly recently as we have come together during this COVID19 crisis.  The Vaka Pride committee made a unanimous decision to share the prize pool of $10,000 equally amongst all the Puna on Rarotonga.  So Vaka Pride has evolved from a competition style to an award based programme for this special round to acknowledge and support the hard work of the Puna.  The Vaka Pride programme has adapted to respond to our current state of affairs as well as align to the Kia Orana Community campaign.

Each of the ten Puna on Rarotonga will receive a cash grant of $1,000 towards a pre-nominated community project.  “The types of community projects that have been nominated by the Puna have included community cleaning to eradicate dengue, upgrades of village water stations, security gear for Puna teams, and improvements towards community buildings” said Vaka Pride programme coordinator, Sieni Tiraa of Cook Islands Tourism.

The team from Cook Islands Tourism Corporation, accompanied by members of the Vaka Pride committee will award each of the ten Puna over the course of three weeks starting from this Friday the 15th of May. “This is a way that the Vaka Pride committee can acknowledge the contribution of the Puna to national response efforts during the COVID-19 crisis and also a way that their community projects can be supported and strengthened” adds Tiraa.

The upcoming special round will set up the Puna for the next round scheduled for June which will be a friendly and fun competition to reward those community groups who go the extra mile for their community. For more Vaka Pride information please see the Kia Orana Values facebook page or contact Sieni Tiraa on [email protected] or +682 29435