The theme for the week is a Samoan proverbial saying or alaga upu: "Poupou le lotoifale, ola manuia le anofale" which when translated means strengthen the posts of your house for all to thrive.
This is an apt proverb for every family in that those posts could stand for sharing love, encouragement, care, loyalty, help, support etc. the positive things that we as parents should try and ensure so that our children, grandchildren and parents (often Samoan multi-generational homes) can thrive individually but also as a collective.
I'm so thankful for my parents encouraging me to speak my first language, especially my father who saw the importance of expressing this even when I didn't understand its importance at the time but it was a gift of being able to converse with my grandparents in their/own indigenous language and when returning to Samoa, I feel at home even though I was brought up in New Zealand.
Now for sharing this with our next generations in teaching them not only the language but also the principles and values of respect, caring for our elderly and the importance of faith as in the motto of Samoa as "Samoa fa'avae i le Atua" or Samoa's foundation is in God...
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