BROTHER JOSEVA WARA

One of a handful of indigenous Fijians to continue as Marist Brothers, Joseva was born in the Colonial War Memorial Hospital Suva, in October 1948, the sixth in a family of eleven (five boys), the fifth having died tragically in infancy. His mother, who was a devoted royalist, had hoped to give birth at the same time as Elizabeth II, mother of Charles Windsor and was disappointed that her son arrived a month earlier!

Both parents remained non-Catholics during his growing years, being from staunch Methodist backgrounds, with both grandfathers "men of the cloth". His father was a government land surveyor, one of five indigenous Fijians handpicked by the colonial government while still students at the original Queen Victoria School situated at Nasinu near Suva. These had been recommended by Ratu Sir Lala Sukuna, and Ratu Sukuna's name was often heard at home during Joseva's childhood years, even more so when this high chief was setting up the new Native Lands Trust Board. Joseva's father left the Lands Department to become part of the original staff of the infant NLTB.

As a four year-old, alone at home with his paternal grandmother and one year old infant sister, he had vivid memories of the 1952 earthquake and tsunami, which drained the Suva Harbour before sweeping back to flood the land.

He started school as a six year old boarder at Navunibitu Mission Station School in his father's Province of Ra, almost 80 miles from his Suva home. After reaching the age of eleven he transferred to the Brothers' school in Suva, St Columba's. Then, as a Class 8 student, he became a member of the multi-racial St Felix College, under the dynamic Brother Bertrand.

Three years followed at Marist Brother High School Bau Street under Brother Cletus Blewman. At that time most of the school staff were Brothers, and of the 330 member student corps, only 10 were indigenous Fijians.

He experienced the traditional Marist High School education under the "greats" of those days: Lambert Delahunty, Peter Kiely, Anthony McKay (who suffered his unfortunate stroke when Joseva was in his last year there, as a Fifth Former in 1965),Victor Montague, Placid Preston, Clarent Glynn and Walter Pratt.

During his time the school reached new heights in sporting excellence, namely in rugby where the non-indigenous dominated the scene. He was a member of Placid's Midget Rugby Team in 1964, a team that narrowly lost to QVS in the Fiji Rugby Finals. This was the first rugby team of the school to reach the Fiji Finals. He also witnessed in 1965 Walter Pratt's Chinese-dominated First XV winning the coveted Dean's Trophy, an historical first for the school, against a much vaunted and fancied QVS team.

In 1966 he went to Tuakau as part of a 5 member team of newly recruited Fijians, the sole full-blooded indigenous Fijian in the group. Brother Ignatius Callan was then in his last year as Master of Juniors, with Douglas Dawick as his assistant, and others on the staff were Marcel Hall and Mark Wylie.

Three of these companions later went on to the Novitiate at Claremont in 1967. After their profession in 1968, they were fortunate to have a full three years of scholasticate under Brothers Theophane, Romuald and Venantius.

Joseva's first appointment, in 1972, was to Hato Petera, the college for Maori boys on the North Shore run by the Brothers. After only one year there he was back in Fiji for the first time in seven years.

He joined the Carew St community, made up of older men (Brothers Lambert and Peter) who had been his teachers years before, together with some more recently arrived from New Zealand. His was a very awkward situation, being in his own country, but with no one in his community able to converse freely with him in the Fijian language. In addition, he had to cope with relating to his old teachers, a situation that required a real change of attitude on both sides. The student-teacher attitude had to change to a brotherly relationship. Other young Brothers returning from New Zealand were to experience similar problems. For some the transition proved too difficult. This was the time when the tanoa and the guitar appeared for the first time in the Brothers' sitting room, in the face of silent protestations from the old men. It will be remembered that Brother Lambert drank his first (and possibly his last) bowl of kava in 1971 at his golden jubilee.

Brother Joseva brought fresh ideas with him and it was not long before he had initiated the High School "Champagnat Club", a forerunner of REMAR and other Champagnat movements for the students.

While teaching at Marist Brothers High School Joseva also managed to continue his studies and completed a BA in English at the University of the South Pacific.
In 1977 he joined the newly formed Desvoeux Rd community, with Brothers John Blewman and Suliano Vasuitoga, who was still completing his studies at Marist Brothers High School.

His next appointment was to Napuka, to the new junior secondary school, where he was Principal for four years, until the departure of the Brothers at the end of 1984. This was an important experience of rural education in a particularly difficult environment. Traditional leadership in the Tunuloa area had been weak and confused for some time and support for the school was not always forthcoming.

After returning to Marist Brothers High School for two years he went off to Rome and France on a "Champagnat" course as part of his preparation for the task of Novicemaster at Lomeri. After two years at Lomeri, he took on the equally demanding task of accompanying the graduates of the Lomeri Novitiate, in Champagnat House, Vatuwaqa during 1987-89.