Dr Kerryn Sogha Galokale travelled from her beloved Solomon Islands to cross the stage, receiving a doctoral degree in Pacific Studies from Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland.
She graduated on 5 September, all smiles and tears, a far cry from the challenging journey that saw her family spread from Australia to Aotearoa, while both she and her husband Dr Derek Futaiasi, separately undertook their PhD studies.
Galokale arrived in Auckland with her three-year-old daughter Liz-Amarissah in 2019; the following year the Covid-19 pandemic arrived.
“I valued each step I took across the stage as they represented each person who walked the journey with me. It was a beautiful and memorable event in my lifetime to respectfully acknowledge everyone who contributed to making this one goal and dream in my life come true.”
Galokale hails from the island of Bareho in Nono Lagoon, Marovo, Western Province and Loloko village of Choiseul Province. She says graduation day was particularly special as she arrived accompanied by her husband and their daughter, and also parents Pastor Newton and Ruth Galokale, who travelled from the Solomons to Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland.
She said her family and faith were a great source of encouragement and motivation given there were many times of difficulty.
“It was a struggle as a black Melanesian woman being in a Western institution. However, there was a motto that was instilled in me as a child, if somebody can do it then why can’t I?
“It always pushed me beyond those negative thoughts of doubt and shyness. That is, I am a Melanesian woman, and I can do the impossible and break the spell that my mother, grandmother and ancestors did not have the privilege to do, so that my daughter and the next generations will continue to carry on the legacy.”
She moved to Canberra in 2018, where her husband undertook his doctoral study at the Australian National University. She sought out several academic institutions planning to embark on her own PhD. Offers of enrolment followed, but without the scholarship she hoped to secure, until she came across the Pacific Studies programme at the University of Auckland.
“I was impressed with the Pacific Studies programme and its academic staff, and their contributions to Pacific research. I knew that Pacific Studies would suit my research proposal and study interest.”
Success came with an offer of enrolment and the much-hoped-for scholarship through the University’s Faculty of Arts doctoral scholarship.
Her research took her to Sa’a in South Malaita, in the eastern part of Solomon Islands. There she lived among the Sa’a people for three months conducting her research, learning about their experiences and perspectives towards their Sa’a language, Pijin and English in informal learning contexts.
“I was keen to learn about their attitudes and perspectives toward implementing the Vernacular Languages and English in Education Policy (VLEEP) at the [local] Charles Elliot Fox Memorial primary school.”
The history to VLEEP is that the Solomon Islands language policy has evolved from an ‘English Only Policy’ (1978) to vernacular languages and Pijin (2010), as languages of instruction and teaching vernacular literacy. In 2013, the Ministry of Education began implementing the Vernacular Languages and English in Education Policy (VLEEP) in two vernacular language communities, one of which was Sa’a.
Galokale’s thesis, ‘Examining the Vernacular Languages and English in Education Policy and Practices: Language Attitudes and Perspectives Towards Sa’a Language, Pijin, and English in Sa’a Indigenous Community in Solomon Islands’ found that language attitudes and perspectives of the community affected its implementation.
However, integrating the cultural elements of Hailadami (Sa’a traditional chiefly system) and the social settings of Sa’a in the VLEEP programme may be an approach to re-indigenise the Pacific vernacular language education programme.
The juggle of academia while parenting their young daughter took a toll. While there were numerous programmes, workshops, and conferences she was invited to, having a young child meant she often declined.
Also, as a member of the Seventh Day Adventist church, she was unable to attend programmes and events on Friday evenings or on Saturdays.
“Being far from home and family, there were moments when study pressure was just unsurmountable and I broke down in tears.”
The most challenging time hit as Covid-19 arrived in New Zealand. She returned home to the Solomon Islands in early 2021, making the difficult decision to withdraw from her studies and resume in the distant future.
But her parents had other ideas.
Her mother reminded her, “We are old now; we want you to complete your study while we are still alive.”
She returned to New Zealand in early 2022 with her daughter, but was running out of time to complete her thesis and her scholarship money was about to end. Galokale used what she had managed to save from her stipend and re-enrolled for a further six months.
“It was a difficult decision. We had nothing left for rental costs and basic needs. I pleaded to God not to allow my daughter and me to be homeless in a foreign land. God did answer our prayers!
“The Office of the Pro Vice-Chancellor Pacific offered to meet our accommodation expenses for four months in student accommodation. Also, the Pacific Studies Department supported us with hardship allowances, and food vouchers that we survived on until I submitted my thesis in February 2023.”
Following this, she took up a graduate teaching assistant role in Pacific Studies, and was also a research fellow in Pacific Climate Research. Life was becoming easier and opportunities were slowly coming her way. Galokale was confident that if she continued to work abroad, they could enjoy a good life, but her love for her country made her return.
She returned home with her family to Honiara early this year, taking up an academic role at the University of South Pacific (USP) Solomon Islands Campus.
“I am a lecturer in education. I love teaching and I hope to inspire young people in my country to grow and thrive in their goals and passion. Besides work, I also want to give more time to my family after those long years of study.
“My villages, including my parents, siblings and husband, were behind me throughout those years of study.
“I am also thankful for the support, encouragement, and friendship from the Pacific Studies academic staff/supervisors, Associate Professor Lisa Uperesa, Professor Jemaima Tiatia-Siau, Dr Melenaite Taumoefolau, Professor Yvonne Underhill-Sem and Dr Marcia Leenen-Young and other Pacific Studies staff and students.”
And she paid tribute to the Ponsonby Seventh Day Adventist Church. “They became our closest family and supported us in so many ways. I am also thankful to other lifetime friends and wantoks [close friends] I met throughout my study journey.
“But biggest inspiration of all was my daughter, Liz-Amarissah, who started the journey with me in 2019 and stood by me through good and bad times.
“The reason I decided to return to our beloved country, Solomon Islands, is to serve my people and nation. I believe that if there is a time to help our country, it is now. However, I am open to opportunities, if God has other plans for my life and family.”
