Eteuati Ete’s video

White Ribbon Ambassador and former member of the Laughing Samoans, Eteuati Ete shared his thoughts about two of the key messages in the Challenge the #Outdated campaign.

He reflected on ‘Children should be heard’ and the fact that he was often told to “sit down and shut up” as a child. The beautiful thing that theatre taught him was that he should “stand up and speak out”. He found his voice, and now he uses it to help share his story so that others can learn from his experiences. He notes that he doesn’t blame his father for that parenting approach, as his father used the tools that he had at the time. But now we know the effects of violence on children, and that the violence can become cyclical.

As an adult, Ete had a lot of baggage and he brought a lot of pain into his marriage. At the beginning, he thought he had to be the boss, but after ending up in court he realized that it was not viable moving forward. ‘Treat them equal’ really resonated with Ete who wanted to highlight how great it is to be in an equal loving relationship. He points out some young men are still receiving these “stone age beliefs”. By sharing his experiences, he hopes they will realise there is a better way.

Recently Eteuati Ete and his wide Mele Wendt have been sharing their story with young men and women attending the White Ribbon Youth Ambassador Leadership Programme, and will be speaking at the Christchurch YALP.