Samoa’s lost sons return to make a difference

"We became involved with people affiliated in the “underworld”. In the underworld, everyone fights for recognition. That’s how I made the wrong choice, got involved in the wrong crowd and that’s how I got caught.I took that life that I thought was going to make fast money; selling drugs and all sorts of things”

Every month, Samoa welcomes into her arms an average of four criminal deportees.

Most of these deportees have left Samoa in their tender ages along with their families to the United States of America, Australia and New Zealand to find a greener pasture.

However, they ended up looking for trouble.

Now after spending years in foreign prison cells, freedom awaits them in this humble paradise.

The Samoa Returnees Charitable Trust (S.R.C.T) established in 2010 to proactively address issues related to criminal deportees as they were increasingly becoming a law enforcement issue in Samoa and in the region.

The main objective of the Trust is to promote, advance and carry out in Samoa rehabilitation and reintegration programs for criminal deportees.

After four years of existence, S.R.C.T boasts success stories of its members. We look at some of them today.

Siva AfiPapali’itele60 years old

Papali’i went to Hawaii in 1979. He was a professional wrestler for 10 years until the WWF New York recruited him. In New York, he started to mix with bad people. He became greedy for money and became a U.S. Mafia enforcer.

“I was looking for something, there was a big void in my heart so I became an alcoholic,” he said.“I thought that’s where I can fill the void, and I became a drug addict. But I couldn’t find anything that could fill the heart.

“I was an enforcer of Mafia in America and you know that kind of life is a horrible life then I ended up in prison in 1998 where I was sentenced to lifetime imprisonment to die in the prison.”

“When I was in prison, I started to believe in God. After 10 years in prison, the government suddenly said I could come home. Without any doubt in my life, I see that a door God opened for me to change.”

He was brought back to Samoa in 2007. In Samoa, he studied for four years and last year, he earned a Ministerial degree and now works for RHEMA Bible College.

And he has a Message to the other returnees.

“I believe that no man can be changed unless changed from the inside. There is hope in Christ; you have to come to the Lord. There is always a place for people to come back to the Lord,” he said.

“They need to do something for the future generation here in Samoa, yes we did wrong but you cannot stay that way. You can use those things to correct and do something good to help the generation today.”

George Tofilau, 59 years old

George left Samoa in 1978 for Hawaii with a dream for a brighter future.

“My family used to have a construction company, we used to work with the heavy equipments. That was the backbone of my family and we grew up into that kind of work and that’s how we make money,” he said.

“We became involved with people affiliated in the “underworld”. In the underworld, everyone fights for recognition. That’s how I made the wrong choice, got involved in the wrong crowd and that’s how I got caught.

“I took that life that I thought was going to make fast money; selling drugs and all sorts of things.”

He was sentenced back in the 80’s but things got worst in prison.

“I became a leader of gang inside the prison. We organized a group just so we can stick together and we used to run drugs. We call it as a family.”

“A racial war broke inside the prison and we ended up killing the leader of the white and because I was the leader of my gang, I had to face the consequence.”

“When I got another case inside the prison, I was then facing a death penalty (electric chair) in Texas, I said to myself, this is the end of my life, I have nowhere else to go”

“But somehow God just got a hold of me”

“When I was in isolation, the only thing they allowed me to have is the bible, I read the book even though I didn’t understand what it says I just knew there is something digging deeper and deeper in my soul.

“They finally let me out after 20 years in prison, which I do not know how they did it because I didn’t face any hearing or anything.”

Arriving in Samoa in 2003, he was totally lost. His wife and kids in Hawaii flew to Samoa to reunite with him. He went to lie in Pago and he was supposed to go back to Hawaii but he came back to Samoa.

While in Samoa, someone invited him to join a seminar at RHEMA Bible School.

“I felt this is what I’ve been looking for all my life. This is where I start to gain understanding on everything that I’ve read about the bible.”

His message to the other returnees, “The choice you make in a moment will determine the outcome of your life; either bad or good.”

“Ask God before you make the choice.”

VaaimaliToilolo, 39 years old

Vaaimalileft Samoa with his family when he was two months old for the United States.

“Like a lot of us that come from Samoa, it’s easy to adopt to the new culture,” he said.

“I got caught up in a lot of gangs and drugs.Last time I went to prison I stayed for 12 straight years.”

From 1995-96-2007, he was sentenced for kidnap for ransom with 8 years jail term. But in prison, things got little rough. He got involved with subculture in prison and the politics.

He was brought back to Samoa in 2007.

“When I came here, it was a bit rocky because I come to a place where I haven’t been to since I was a baby,” he said. “The culture, the traditions, that was all lost because I didn’t speak the language so that became difficult and also the stigma of being an ex-con.

“But at the same time I figured that the only to do things is to push forward and one of the things I appreciate now is freedom.”

“So with the help of Natalia Perero, she worked for UNESCO, I got together with her and she was one of those who pushed for the Samoa Returnees Charitable Trust. And I helped her do the data and researched for all the other returnees and helped to get publicity and finally that’s how we were able to establish ourselves.”

His message to his fellow returnees: “With freedom can come everything, at the same time freedom can come nothing and it all depends on you, it all depends on us. So rather than become a burden in the community, we can utilize what we have, our skills, and our experiences from the past to help promote a safer community.”

He now works at the Coral Reef Academy as a Residential Case Manager.

Motoi Fauatea, 43 years old

Motoi left Samoa with his family in 1988 at the age of nine to Hawaii.

“We moved right into the heart of housing community where gangs and drugs are present,” he remembered.

“I was a part of the gang from 8 years old all the way until maybe 20 years old. I was living in the projects, in the housing in Hawaii and Utah and from there I started to be in gangs and just been doing a lot of gang activities like carting, stealing and robberies.It lead to bank robberies and that’s how I ended up being arrested in 1996.

“I went in and I was supposed to do five years. If I participate and follow the prison norm and the schedule, I could have got out 3 ½ years on good behavior but I just got into more trouble, I started doing more robberies in prison and I ended up doing eight years.

“And then after that, they released me and then the immigration prison system picked me up so they sent me to Arizona and I did time there, I could have gotten out early and deported but I fought my case and lost and then I got deported back to Samoa in 2004.

“I got back and went back to using drugs because I was lonely, I didn’t have no family. I went back to my old ways, instead of robbery, I used drugs I went drinking because I was miserable and lost and confused.

“I met my wife and had a son and when I had my son that opened my eyes because now I have somebody to raise, It wasn’t about myself anymore. I named him chance because he was my second chance, he was the one who opened my eyes, I had to find work so I came here to Coral Reef I applied and got the job.

“And I started working (Coral Reef Academy); I’ve been here now for 6 and a 1/2 years. I started out as a mentor and less than 2 years I became the sports coordinator and the photographer.

“So I have five kids now, two are in school and three are getting ready to go to school. My kids opened my eyes. I started working hard and I love it here now.”

His message to his fellow deportees: “Don’t give up, there is always light at the end of the tunnel.It may seem like here in Samoa, there’s nothing you can do but there is, you just have to have hope and not give up and I am praying man so I pray, and yeah to start a family.”All four are members of the Samoa Returnees Charitable Trust.

The S.R.C.T estimates that there are over 250 deportees in the country.

The S.R.C.T encourages all the other deportees to become part of the Trust.

One of S.R.C.T’s project is the Act Right Do Right Programme where they do intervention campaign in colleges to students who are right there on the fence; Students who do not know if they want to be good or bad.

According to S.R.C.T’s Senior Returnees Officer, Vernon Mackenzie, “The reason why we do it is because our members have been there, they done that, they’ve been there in jail, and they know the signs. And 15 years ago they were sitting there but the experiences that they gone through, they want to share it to the kids.

“Look you may be a bad kid but when you get to jail or juvenile hall, you’re just a new fish. You are going to be beat up or even worse so that’s the reason why we go to get the message out there to these kids because there are a lot of things going on at school.”

The S.R.C.T have been engaging the service of its members to do various community work.For more information and if you want to be a part of the SRCT, you may visit them at their Mulinu’u office or you may call them at 27498/24503.