PROMOTING MEN'S HEALTH IN SAMOA

2 November 2021

The Logopuialii Samoa Youth Organisation (LSYO) received some very welcome support today from a son of Samoa, Ato Plodzicki-Faoagali.

Ato has always held Samoa dear to his heart and was one of our boxers to represent Samoa at this year's Olympic Games in Tokyo. 

Based in Sydney Australia and frustrated by travel restrictions, he is using his talent and profile for another great cause.

Ato has embarked on a campaign to raise funds and awareness of health issues and suicide prevention in Samoa's youth. These funds will be sent to the LSYO to assist with implementing their various suicide awareness and prevention programs.

Ato states on his Facebook post that his "Movember" will be dedicated to this cause this year. Movember is generally associated with raising awareness of men's health issues and in particular cancer.

In his post, Ato calls for "donations to this worthy and vital cause for my usos back home".

Logopuialii Samoa Youth Organisation greatly appreciate the generous support of Ato and commitment to their cause.

Logopuialii Youth Organization was founded in 18 Sep 2018 as a non-denominational, not-for-profit group specifically to address the many issues facing the youth in Samoa.

The Organisation today has some 218 members and enjoys support from many families, friends and associates. To date we have operated purely on a voluntary basis with members contributing time and resources as best they can.

The youth outreach program has been very successful and through our network has dealt with many issues such as teenage pregnancies, alcohol and drug problems, suicide, bullying and harassment, peer pressure and the like. A number of our members are trained counsellors and have been very effective in assisting youth throughout Samoa.

All of this is done in their own time with counsellors making themselves available at any time at all. We have on a number of occasions been invited to hold workshops with other youth groups, to share experiences and to provide guidance and assistance to groups located remotely from Apia.