FIJIAN CAREGIVES FOR PhD: ROKOLEKUTU'S JOURNEY

Dr. Ponipate Rokolekutu 

     By Dr. Tarcisius Kabutaulaka

It was a beautiful day on 16^th December 2017. The Stan Sheriff Center at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa was packed with excited graduates, relatives, friends, faculty and dignitaries. It was the University’s fall commencement ceremony.

When his name was called, Ponipate Rokolekutu walked up to the podium, was hooded and then presented with a piece of paper acknowledging his achievements.

It was a gesture welcoming this Fijian lad from Vunimono in Tailevu into the global community of academics.

Rokolekutu received a PhD in political science, making him the first iTaukei to have been awarded a PhD in that department at the University of Hawaiʻi.

He looks sober and dignified in his graduation gown. But behind his sober demeanor and the infectious smile that beams through his spectacles are stories of struggles.

Growing up, his parents struggled to look after him and his five siblings. Being the eldest, he had to shoulder some of that burden.

“I realized very early the financial struggles we had. And so I knew I had to work hard in school in order to help my parents,” Rokolekutu recalls.

After completing his primary education at the Nausori District School, he went on to Lelean Memorial for high school.

While attending Lelean Memorial School, every Friday and Saturday night, he would sell roti & curry in front of a nightclub in Nausori Town.

He talks about it as though it was only yesterday: “I go in with 100 roti. 20 cents a roti and at the end of the night I take the $20 to my mother.”

“I had to do it because I couldn’t stand to see my mother sitting out there selling roti. I was the only child in front of the nightclub. The rest were women,” Rokolekutu says with emotion in his voice. Because of this, kids at his school called him “Ponipate the roti boy.”

In 1988, he received a scholarship to do foundation social science at the University of the South Pacific (USP).

“That was a new experience. For the first time I felt that there was some kind of elevation in my life because I had my own room, and I could eat good food on campus that we didnʻt often eat at home,” Rokolekutu recalls.

At the same time, he felt that “university was a elite and special place. I felt so privileged and that made me work even harder.”

After completing his foundation social science, Rokolekutu went to the University of Auckland in New Zealand to study law.

But life away from Fiji and family was challenging. He failed and went back to Fiji. He got a job as a teacher at Vunisea High School in Kadavu. He enjoyed it although the salary was modest.

“I remember my pay was $188 a fortnight. But, I was able to send money home. Every payday I sent $100 home and lived on $88.”

“The good thing was that we had a government corporative store and you could ‘book-down’,” he says with a smile, referring to how they could take goods and pay later. 

In 1992 he went back to USP, graduating in 1994 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology and history/politics, becoming the first university graduate from his village.

Rokolekutu then taught at Ratu Kadavulevu School (RKS) and later at Ratu Sukuna Memorial School (RSMS).

In 1998, he left Fiji and for the next six years taught at Liahona High School in Tonga and the College of the Marshall Islands in Majuro.

But Rokolekutu had always wanted to further his career in academia. So in 2005 he gathered his savings, travelled to Honolulu and enrolled for the MA in political science at the University of Hawaiʻi as a private student.

It was expensive and his savings could only stretch so far. He had to find alternative sources of income. That was not easy, especially for a non-U.S. citizen on student visa.

Through the Fijian diaspora community network, Rokolekutu was introduced to the caregiving industry – looking after elderly people.

And so for the next ten years, Rokolekutu looked after old people in Honolulu and California in order to pay for his graduate education.

One of those was Louie, a ninety-five-year-old man from Palo Alto in the San Francisco Bay area.

“I would give him shower in the morning, wash his clothes, prepare his meals and manage his pills and appointments.”

He admits it was not easy: “To wipe people’s ass – that was a struggle. It changes one’s mindset. You become these people’s servant. You have to swallow your pride and bring yourself down.”

Rokolekutu says he “was able to do it because for me, it was a means to achieving a bigger goal. So, I knew it was temporary.”  

In 2007, he graduated with an MA and continued with the PhD program the year later.

During his first three years at UH, Rokolekutu resided at the East-West Center’s Hale Mānoa dormitory, which was cheaper than the open rental market.

But even so, he struggled. Some months he would default on his rental payment and had to negotiate to pay by installments.

He says his friendship with others was important because they would share food and support each other.

“I borrowed money when in need. Borrowing money was difficult, but I had to survive,” he says slowly as though still feeling the pain.

Between 2009 and 2011, Rokolekutu secured Teaching Assistant (TA) positions with the department of political science. That was a lifesaver because it gave him tuition waver.

In 2011, after accomplishing his All But Dissertation (ABD) status, Rokolekutu moved to California in search of caregiving jobs.

Two of his longest jobs were looking after 100-year-old Leota and seventy-eight-year-old Ruth in Petaluma, Sonoma County.

It was then that he started writing his PhD dissertation. He remembers sometimes taking Ruth to the library.

“She would sit there while I did my studies. I was blessed to have Ruth.”

Rokolekutu did such a wonderful job looking after these old women that when Leota passed away in January 2018, her family paid for him to fly from Honolulu to California to attend and speak at her funeral.

He says writing his dissertation while caregiving was difficult. “I could have easily abandoned my studies because the environment wasn’t conducive and one could become comfortable in that life.”

But Rokolekutu never lost sight of his final goal. In 2015 he returned to Honolulu to complete his studies. The department of political science gave him a lecturer position, which helped financially.

So when he walked up to that graduation podium, it was a milestone – the culmination of over a decade of struggles.

Rokolekutu attributes his success to his “faith in God and faith in myself and the support of friends and loved ones” – in particular, he acknowledges Laisane Kedrabuka, “the love of my life, who stood beside me in the course of completing the PhD.”

“I would not have completed my studies without the love and support that Laisane provided and her faith in me.”  

His PhD dissertation was on land issues in Fiji, examining why and how iTaukei landowners have often been marginalized in economic development projects.

He says he is “driven by the desire to make a better future for iTaukei landowners” and is convinced that “the economic condition of indigenous Fijians could be addressed by resolving land-related issues.”

In reflecting on his journey, Rokolekutu says “There were sleepless nights and moments of doubt, but I had a goal and I was determined to achieve it.”

In reflecting on his future, he says he sees himself as one day “playing a political role in Fiji. I believe I have something to contribute to the future of Fiji." 


# Dr. Tarcisius Kabutaulaka is an associate professor at the University of Hawai'i. He was a member of Dr. Ponipate Rokolekutu's dissertation committee. He first met Dr. Rokolekutu at USP. Over the years they have shared many stories, often washed with kava. This story was recorded during a "baby mix." Kabutaulaka is from Solomon Islands.