Ah Siu Family Reunion Jan 2021 in Samoa...

Lobby at Return to Paradise resort. Venue for our Reunion 7 - 11 Jan, 2021

Today was our first family reunion meeting for my father's maternal grandfather's side i.e. the Ah Siu's which is my great, great grandfather's family name from somewhere in Southern China.

The family reunion is planned for 12 months from now in Samoa at my auntie and uncles, cousins Return to Paradise resort which is on the Eastern coast of Upolu.

We had a family trip to Samoa earlier last year and took a day trip to celebrate our middle child's 14th birthday, at the resort, and had an amazing day (earlier blog) and now looking forward to our 7 - 11 Jan 2021 family reunion.

The amazing thing for me was to have heard stories from my grandmother about her Chinese grandfather with the name Ah Siu when they lived in Matautu (Apia side) in Samoa. Although there isn't a picture of him, he emigrated to Samoa and settled there and married our Samoan great, great grandmother,built a family home in Matautu and had several children who are the 5 various branches of our family reunion.

We're now all so looking forward to it with lots of preparations with our Samoan families hosting and our Auckland organising komiti/committee in a support role. It's also a special time for all our cuzzies to get together and share new and old stories as well as to know their connections to Samoa and each other. 

We've also got a tentative programme that may include a fieldtrip to where our ancestors are buried, the various villages that our ancestors lived in, explaining our genealogy, a welcoming kava ceremony, a space for saofa'i for new matai or title holders and lots and lots of time together.

Definitely something to look forward to for the end of the year as the new year begins...