Other People’s Lives – Ollie Seumanufagai

Ollie Seumanufagai is Service Manager at the Salvation Army Hope Centre in Wellington, he’s a family man with seven children and 3 grandchildren.  Recently he completed a 2400km bike ride over 15 days from Bluff to Cape Reinga to raise awareness about men’s health, particularly for Maori and Pacific Islanders.  Here’s his story:

“It started in 2011 with my brother in law Chris who wanted to pay tribute to his father who died of prostate cancer three weeks after he was diagnosed. Chris wanted to promote the awareness of cancer and the importance of regular health checks for pacific men.

So he decided to bike from Auckland to Wellington also promoting these key messages and having huis along the way and talking about having health checks.

So as a result, in 2011 Chris and brother in law Mark travelled to promote these key messages from Auckland to Wellington where the name Uso Bike Ride had evolved, Uso meaning  brother .

In 2012 they rode from Cape Reinga to the Bluff, there were about 11 riders this time and I joined them as a member of the support crew.  It was great to be involved, giving those key messages throughout the country in collaboration with the Cancer Society to NGOs, Iwi and Pacific heath providers and local church groups.

Other key messages about the high representation of Maori and Pacific men in the areas of obesity, strokes, heart attacks, gout so getting this message out was important.  To see Polynesian men in lycra cycling the length of the country is an oddity as we are used to seeing them on the rugby field. However it is a good vehicle to spread the message of health and wellbeing.

In 2013 I transitioned from the support crew car to be one of the riders – one Uso rider was upgrading his bike and asked me if I wanted it, I saw an opportunity there and decided to take up the challenge.  I ended up hopping onto the bike, they had a weekly ride so I started joining in and one of my goals that year was to ride at Taupo, which I was able to do  with the support and help of others.

My family motivates me – I want to be around for a long time and I want to have quality of life and be around my grandchildren.  I want to sit on the other side of the swing, not just sit watching, I want to be healthy.  I know if I’m consistent with this and I take care of myself things are looking good for the future.  I want to make sure I’m around for those milestones, my grandchildren’s 21sts, weddings, I want to see my great-grandchildren as well – I think one of the biggest things I’ve learned from cycling during this journey I’ve had is that it’s a lifestyle for me now, not a phase that I’ll give up after three months, it’s a commitment.  You can ride a bike at 60, 70 or 80, it’s a sport that’s got it’s longevity as opposed to rugby for instance.

I’ve done other things that have evolved from this – Taupo and K2 among them – until this year we’ve ridden the length of the country from Bluff to Cape Reinga.   The same key messages have come out again why we’re doing it, it’s about community engagement, about fighting cancer, that Maori and Pacific men make sure they have health checks, their warrants of fitness.  It was an amazing journey and I’m very happy to say that I was a part of the team.

The community engagement, the experience was awesome, we learnt lots as individuals and as a team, you fine tune things from the bottom to the top of the country. Being a newer rider I got a lot of encouragement and support from the team and I had the privilege of my wife Penny being able to travel with us from Wellington to Cape Reinga, that was really special.

Our family connections are strong in the team – not just Samoan, we’ve got Maori, Tokelauan, Pakeha, Tongan, a mixture of ages, we’ve got women who’ve joined so it’s good to see our wahine toa involved.  It’s getting bigger, about 40 riders now throughout the country.

I think when people capture the vision of the Uso Bike Ride it’s hard for them not to take any notice of it, especially cycling, it’s riding bikes for a good cause.”

Thanks Ollie, I’m sure your story will inspire others to look after their health.

As told to Frances Le Fort