We need to try and focus less on ethnicity in this country and concentrate on trying to improve the lot of the marginalized whoever they are. - Joni Madraiwiwi

When I was nominated for the position of Vice President I was very unenthusiastic about it. But I took the post because it provided a powerful platform to talk on matters that are important for the country.

Cadet corps instill discipline in its members, where you are taught basic skills such as survival in the wilderness, unarmed combat, tracking and learning how to strategise.

Our ethnicity is part of us, however, it should not isolate or distance us from the community in which we live. People of different cultures cannot not live peacefully together unless they have respect for each other. I accept that seeking further integration is a challenge and it cannot be imposed or done under duress; the feeling has to come from within ourselves. To create an environment for that to happen, we have to develop situations and opportunities that place people in a position to make choices and this is one of them. And unless we begin to see our neighbours as people, as human beings rather than by ethnicity, it is difficult to shed our stereotypes of each other.