Lalomanu youth have come out winners from a debate competition organised by the Congregational Christian Church Samoa (C.C.C.S.) which targeted young people from the Fagaloa and Aleipata congregations. 

One of the judges of the debate competition, Mulipola Mose, said they were strict and monitored where the debate participants did their research on the selected topics and provided their sources for the judges' reference. 

He said a total of 16 youth groups from the various C.C.C.S. congregations in the Fagaloa and Aleipata districts competed.

Asked what he thought of the debate competition as a judge, Mr. Mose said it was good to see many youth members improve their overall presentation as part of the debate. 

"I see a lot of improvement this year with the participants. They are much more confident and assertive," he said, while also pointing out the key roles played the debaters' local pastors. 

"Before I would stop a presenter because they would lean on to the pulpit, I would say to them, look at your posture, you look like you are resting.

"You can tell from the winning teams that the pastors played a big role in pushing them and instigating good ideas to be discussed during the debate."

Asked if he thought the speech competition helped the youth of the two districts, he agreed and concluded that they are now more informed.

"Yes, I think that the youth have become more informed, more thorough and confident with their research, and more critical."

And while the winners of the debate competition were announced by the organisers, Mr. Mose said there is still room for improvement, in areas such as public speaking. 

"The point is not to win but to be part of the experience. Yet, I still think that the winners, who are the Lalomanu youth, have a responsibility to keep the fire burning.

"They shouldn't sit back and relax. They need to keep doing things where they can improve on their skills, the public speaking, because it is how they also carry themselves that defines them as leaders."

An elderly resident of Lalomanu then asked the judge if the debaters had their statistics checked. 

"Yes thanks for noting that, we did verify with their sources that the stats mentioned were up to date," said Mr. Mose. 

One of the debaters in the church-run competition, Ofisa Ofisa of Lalomanu, told Samoa Observer that he was elated at the results and that his team worked hard. 

"We were also coached by the reverend as he was the main instigator of the team to go," he said. "Malama, our colleague for the debate did a great job leading the finals."

It is understood that the church-organised debate started in July this year as a series of speech competitions and concluded earlier this month.