Navigation for New Zealand Society

Small beginnings

From New Zealand Society 7 May 2014

The sentiment ‘all great things come from small beginnings’ could easily have been written about Emeline Afeaki-Mafile’o.

Determined to pursue a love for helping others, Emeline established a support services agency at the age of 25, run from a two-bedroom unit in the Auckland suburb of Papatoetoe.

A decade on, more than 5,000 South Auckland students have passed through the many mentoring programmes her agency, Affirming Works, helps run.

And late last year in recognition for her hard work, Emeline won the inaugural Women of Influence award for Community Service and Social Enterprise.

Lisa Thompson meets Emeline and finds out why she has been labelled as a “woman to watch” by her peers.

The Community Café, Otahuhu – The café serves light meals and coffee sourced from its own coffee plantations in Tonga. It also acts as a training and meeting venue for local businesses and members of the Otahuhu community and regularly holds open mic nights – Photo by Lisa Thompson

Café interior – Photo by Lisa Thompson

Close-up of wall inside The Community Café – the café’s walls are covered with photos of students that have been mentored by Emeline’s agency Affirming Works – Photo by Lisa Thompson

Tupu’anga Coffee – Tongan-grown coffee used in The Community Café to generate funds for Emeline’s mentoring programmes. Photo by Lisa Thompson

Emeline Afeaki-Mafile’o beside her Women of Influence award for Community Service and Social Enterprise 2013 – Photo by Lisa Thompson

A close-up of Emeline’s award – Photo by Lisa Thompson

The images in this gallery are used with permission and are subject to copyright conditions.