James “Superman” Aulava was named Mr. American Samoa from a pool of nine men who vied for the title last Thursday at the Governor H. Rex Lee Auditorium in Utulei. It was the first time American Samoa has held a male pageant, and it was spearheaded by the Society of Fa’afafine in American Samoa’s very own 2014- 15 MISS SOFIAS — Maya Aphrodite Blaque of Tula.

Maya, who’s a nurse by profession, says the male pageant was actually created as a kidney health awareness event as well as a fundraiser, to help fund many of her upcoming projects related to kidney health. “Since there is no specific fund to conduct my projects, the contest was brought up as a fundraising event, while at the same time the contestants can be used as advocates for kidney health.”

This has been Maya’s goal since she won the SOFIAS crown earlier this year — to raise awareness of the measures which can be taken to prevent kidney disease. In the long run, she hopes to create a Kidney Foundation for the public.

The pageant on Thursday night was packed with families, friends and supporters of the contestants. The nine who vied for the crown were:  Donosky Tautunuafatasi; Aunese Tauinaola; James Aulava; Phillip Yandall; Quenton Burgess; Danny Falanai; Benjamin Waterhouse; Lorenzo Vaimagalo and Cornelius Hunkin.

Malia Perelini and Motuofiafiaga Uaita Savusa shared the stage as Masters of Ceremony  for the event, which crowned James Aulava as the first Mr. American Samoa.

There were seven categories for this pageant — Best Interview, Best flex category, Swim wear, Formal wear, Mr. Internet, Best Personality, and Mr. Photogenic. Aulava won three of the categories, as well as Bluesky People's Choice Award which was based on phone text voting.

The first runner up was Quenton Burgess, who won the Best Interview category. Aunese Tauinaola, who came in second, was voted Mr. Photogenic and also won the Best Personality Award. Third place was a tie between Philip Yandall, who was voted Mr Internet, and Danny Falana’i.

What stood out for the audience was how well prepared the contestants were. During the question and answer segment, where the contestants were asked to express ways they could come up with anything that would help prevent kidney diseases, one contestant said to exercise, eat healthy and stay away from high cholesterol food.

Another contestant said that American Samoans should run, exercise, ride a bike or swim for at least 30 minutes per day.

In another category, which was unusual, the contestants — who had been given a chance to shadow Maya for a day in her work as a dialysis nurse — were given the opportunity to share this experience with the audience at the pageant.

For most of them, it was the first time they saw what it’s like working with patients with kidney failure.

They all emphasized the importance of staying healthy and fit to prevent the disease. The contestants also expressed gratitude for the knowledge and experience they gained from shadowing Maya at the Dialysis Unit.

Maya says her heart is set with her dialysis patients, and she wants to focus on kidney disease because it can be prevented. She especially wants to prevent End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) — which is the last stage of chronic kidney disease. _That is when only dialysis or a kidney transplant will keep the patient alive.

“It’s a concern in the community and it’s a growing disease because the numbers of our dialysis patients have increased tremendously, which is a bad sign. Even worse, we now have teenagers as patients,” she told Samoa News.

Samoa News congratulates James Aulava, who works for Bluesky Communications, as their main Info Systems Technician.

He is from the village of Lauli’i. Aulava has a health support group that he leads after hours that emphasizes exercise and healthy living — according to his YouTube.com account information. Called Team Superman Fitness Boot Camp, it takes place every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 5p.m. at the Lauli’i Elementary court.