Elisa Niovara was last year's recipient of the New Zealand Association of Women in Aviation (NZAWA) scholarship. Photo: NMIT
By Aui'a Vaimaila Leatinu'u, PMN
A young Sāmoan-Cook Islands woman from Avondale, West Auckland, says her faith and career in mechanics bring hope to remote communities.
Elisa Niovara currently serves with the Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF), a Christian humanitarian organisation based in Australia and Papua New Guinea that delivers critical supplies to hard-to-reach regions.
Speaking to Nemai Tagicakibau on Pacific Days, Niovara expresses her passion for the company's mission to help remote villages.
"We work with over 1400 different humanitarian groups like UNICEF and Red Cross, and we fly with them to these places," Niovara says.
"If there's a medical emergency, if there's a woman pregnant and they need the hospital and they're days away. We come with a medevac and fly out to those as soon as possible and help them as much as we can."
She says MAF depends on public generosity and seeks financial partners to sustain their vital work.
Despite facing doubts from educators during her schooling, Niovara pursued aeronautical studies at the Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology (NMIT) in Woodbourne, eventually becoming the first Sāmoan to graduate from its Mechanical Engineering course.
"Growing up in school, I had difficulties with teachers. I wasn't the best student," she says. "I was also discouraged by so many adults and so many teachers that this wasn't a job for an islander," she says.
Niovara credits her Christian faith as a guiding force throughout her career journey. She believes God led her to a path that combined her faith with her passion for mechanics.
"So I was so fortunate enough to find out about MAF and what they do at their humanitarian groups worldwide."
Focusing on aircraft maintenance, Niovara hopes to expand her role in aviation by obtaining a pilot's licence. She urges Pacific youth to ignore discouragement and wholeheartedly pursue their ambitions.
"This wasn't going to be easy for me, but you know what? I kept my faith and prayed with God and [with] the support of my family. I just ran [with] it.
"I just took it and said, 'No, this is where God wants me'. This is my passion, and I'm going to pursue it no matter what anyone says. So if this is your dream, I just say go for it."
-This article was first published by PMN.
