Anniversary celebrations for all

This year is a special year for Samoa Victim Support Group as we gear up for the celebration of 10 years of services to the people of Samoa.

It has been a blessed but challenging journey from humble beginnings to where we are today, as we strive to provide quality support services for our people in need.

For ten years now, we have been able to save so many lives, reunite families, raise awareness on social issues affecting our society, and bring justice to the many children and women survivors of sexual and domestic violence. It has been a decade of transformation.

As a Samoan set up, Samoan grown and Samoan sustained N.G.O., Victim Support long ago realized the necessity of creating good partnerships (locally and internationally) to meet the needs of the community.

This realization of partnership is what brings all of us here today as Victim Support’s growing family; to celebrate, to reminisce and to strengthened our partnerships for the continuation of our journey.

As you most likely are aware, Victim Support in 2005 was set up with a limited purpose. The purpose was only to provide for victims of sexual offending. However, as the country became more aware of the work of the Group throughout the years, more and more people came to Victim Support with a variety of problems outside the purpose of which the Group was originally created for.

It became difficult to turn them away because there was nowhere else for them to go. Victim Support therefore expanded its services outside of its original mission, not out of choice, but out of the demand from and needs of the community.

As such, for three days from 12th – 14th March 2015, the Victim Support’s growing family both here and abroad will come together to celebrate. We owe it to ourselves because for ten (10) years, we have been able to open our doors to receive our people in need, through the goodness of your hearts.

The theme of the 10 year anniversary is a decade of transformation. It is a decade of transformation for Samoa as a whole.

Ten years ago, Samoan people decided that enough is enough. Any form of violence or abuse against their children is not to be tolerated. In these last ten years the Samoan people have risen up to fight against this violence.

Samoans from our villages, Samoans from our businesses, Samoans from our Government, Samoans living in Australia, Samoans living in New Zealand, Samoans living in American Samoa and our churches. All these people together with our friends from other countries have come together in these last 10 years to proactively fight against violence and support all those who have been victims of violence in Samoa.

S.V.S.G. has been the messenger for the Samoan community in this last decade. The decade was a decade of transformation. The decade saw changes despite the public criticism and many challenges.

The first sanctuary was established in Moto’otua with the help of the Government of Samoa in the form of state housing. It soon became overcrowded with little space for the children to sleep.

Our prayers were answered in a sanctuary, the House of Hope, built with the help of our friends from the Rotary Club of Surfers Sunrise from the Gold Coast Australia. A sanctuary for the children who have suffered under the hand of violence.

A sanctuary that has been maintained and sustained from the partnership with the Church of Latter Day Saints and the many donations from our local community as well as overseas donors.

The School of Hope was later built for those children. A friend of the Group from Gold Coast in Australia again helped in building this school.

The Ministry of Education has helped out with the sustaining of this school.

The Campus of Hope was established and continues to grow.

In our newly founded partnership and friend Janice Bradnam from the Gold Coast in Australia, we are now in the process of building a nursery in the Campus of Hope for the babies. In our partnership with Digicel, we will also be building another building in the Campus of Hope to house young victims who are pregnant.

Over the last 10 years, we have also established a circle of SVSG village representatives (known as “village reps”). These village reps have been responsible for many of the work and achievements of SVSG.

An S.V.S.G. help line was established with the help of Digicel and Bluesky.

An S.V.S.G. office was established with the assistance of the Government of Samoa.

A working relationship between the Ministry of Police was established as the work of S.V.S.G. is very much related to the work of the police. A working relationship between S.V.S.G. and the Judiciary was established as its work is very much related to the justice sector.

A working relationship with the Office of Attorney General was established as the victims under the care of SVSG are also to be witnesses for the prosecution cases.

The recent development is the working relationship between the youth court and the family court. SVSG now appears in both the family and youth court.v An S.V.S.G. room was established in the court house with the assistance of the Ministry of Justice.

The 10th Anniversary Celebrations is for all of our community in Samoa and overseas to come together and congratulate themselves for what they have achieved.

For the achievements in the last 10 years is not the achievements of SVSG but the achievements of all Samoans and our friends from other countries who took it upon themselves to have the courage to stand up and transform a dream or an idea to something real.

Therefore all the activities thatare to take place during this celebration. are for everyone.