At the beginning of the year, Poasa Telepe’s main priorities were rugby league and high school.
But when the coronavirus pandemic hit, the 18-year-old thought it was best to give them up to support his family.
“Just from then, I took the chance to go and work to put food on the table to provide for my little brothers and my dad, and I didn’t want him to do too much,” he told SBS News.
Poasa is one of eight siblings raised by their single-parent father Oge Telepe, most recently in St Alban's in Melbourne's north-west.
Due to a medical condition, it was difficult for Poasa's father to get work before COVID, but during the pandemic, it has been near impossible.
With his family in crisis, Poasa left school just days into his final term.
Oge Telepe couldn't be prouder of his children. Source: SBS/Abby Dinham
“It was a tough decision, based on my career, I just wanted to finish school and be the first out of my family to finish school,” he said.
The family moved to Australia in 2016 from Auckland, New Zealand. In those four years, Poasa has become school captain, a Pasifika community mentor and a utility in an NRL development team.
His father, a former boxer, says he couldn’t be more proud.
“I am very proud of him, he is a very smart boy. He likes to learn a lot of things,” he said.
The Centre for Multicultural Youth (CMY), a not-for-profit organisation in Victoria, says fewer than 10 per cent of Pasifika students undertake Year 11 and 12 because of the need to support their families and a quarter who make it that far won’t finish Year 12.
Brothers Wayne, Poasa and Lilo Telepe. Source: SBS/Abby Dinham
When Victoria University Secondary College principal Elaine Hazim heard of Poasa’s decision to quit the school, she says her answer was simple.
“I said, 'well that’s not going to happen. You’re going to leave work'. He said 'but, Miss...'.
"I said, 'no, you’re leaving work, you’re not returning and I will ring your employer'.”
Ms Hazim also rang different support groups to get the family immediate help and applied for a state government family support package through the Le Mana Pasifika Project, run by the CMY.
Principal Elaine Hazim wouldn't let Poasa quit the school. Source: SBS/Abby Dinham
“It takes a village to raise a child and that’s exactly what we’re doing. Now he can dream big, he can achieve whatever he wants, all he has to do is put his mind to it,” she said.
The family support packages provided through the Le Mana Pasifika Project and six community support groups were funded as part of the $11.3 million COVID-19 response package for multicultural and faith communities in the state.
Victorian Minister for Youth and Multicultural Affairs Ros Spence says Poasa’s situation is exactly why the initiative was launched last May.
“This is what the government’s family support packages are all about; supporting families who are doing it tough during unprecedented times,” she said.
CMY director and chief executive officer Carmel Guerra says the group has given support to more than 200 families and 700 children in the last six weeks.
Teacher Deb Kelly has high hopes for her student Poasa. Source: SBS/Abby Dinham
“His story is very familiar to us. It saddens us he was put in that position.”
She says it is important for youth leaders like Poasa to show the way in completing high school.
“Education is a pathway out of poverty for many of these young people and they become role models in the community, so keeping them in school is really important,” she said.
Poasa is now on track to finish high school in four weeks, and last month he was signed by an NRL player agent. His family though, remain a priority.
“At the end of the day, I just want to give back to the little ones," he said. "Being an older brother is a gift.”
