Samoan Language week 2024...

 

Today marks the start of o le vaiaso o le fa'atāuaina o le Gagana Samoa or Samoan language week for the year 2024. 

The theme for the week is "Tautua i le alofa, manuia le lumana'i" which means to serve in love for a blessed future.

These weeks are special in schools, Early childhood centres, and even in public spaces celebrate this week with all sorts of activities.

Over the years, I've attended different events all over Auckland and this year, I've been so busy with so much to do that I've had a break from having readings at different schools or Author talks.

It was also good to hear about it at church today in it being shared. As this was the first year that it was announced including the theme both in English and Samoan.

There are so many measina (special cultural treasures) to celebrate. Incidentally, the topic of my thesis but that's another story. Suffice to say that Samoa is often quoted as being the "Pear of the Pacific" and with all the measina associated with fa'aSamoa, I'm not surprised.

Enjoy your week as my family will be flying to Melbourne midweek to visit my younger brother and his family and to celebrate a significant birthday of our matriarch, my mum and grandmother/great grandma in our family. 

I'll also take some time to fly out to visit my brother's family in Sydney before returning to back to Melbourne all the while still taking the time to study too. Never a dull moment and forever busy with so much to do...

Weekend classes at the Wā...

 

With my new job, I'm busy on eight weekends per year (very similar to my last job) whereby I meet or stay overnight with my students at a Marae or at the Wā or "Wānanga" (Māori tertiary education institute) for classes.

It's been interesting over the years in the 3 different teaching roles that I've had as as teacher/tutor in: Indigenous Research, Tikanga (Māori customary values and practices) and now a Bicultural paper on Kaitiakitanga (Guardianship/Stewardship) and Bicultural Professional Supervision.

Serving and teaching in this indigenous space has been an honour and privilege, as when I reflect on when I first started teaching as a self-conscious, first-year teacher, some 30+ years ago, I'm now very confident and passionate in supporting my students to learn how to "crack the code" of succeeding in tertiary education.

I love the beautiful morning sun in the mornings and in the pic above you can see our special carving meets the tip of our waka or canoe which seats on the roof of our reception building. Our groups love to meet out and have karakia or prayers in the morning or chill in the evenings.

And now the marking begins with the first set of assessments coming in for a 3000 word essay, a 15 minute presentation with notes and a critical reflection. All in the life of a teacher but encouraging to know that courses such as this change lives and open doors of opportunity to make a positive difference in their world and spheres of influence. 

Then I support them into our Indigenous Masters degree but that's another story...

Porcelain dolls memories...

 

A big shout out to my children for the porcelain dolls that my mum and I received on Mother's Day. It came as quite a surprise as I had bought a couple of dolls like this for my children when they were quite small but somehow they were damaged (from too much play) and then we no longer had any.

I think it was a cute memory from their past and they went at lengths to replace them (their words). We also received lots of presents including beautiful sei (flower behind the ears) and I added them to the dolls as well.

In fact, the smaller doll came with a glass slipper and it is a collectible doll from a collection called "the glass slipper princess" which was really interesting too.

I recall that back in the day, dolls like these would have been only affordable for those who would have been able to purchase and display them in homes.

Nowadays, they are more affordable but can be hard to source if not at the local Mall or larger department stores. They came with names too with one now called Ashley (because we couldn't pronounce the name) and the other called Memory after the memories that they brought back...

Happy Mothers' Day!...

 A big HAPPY MOTHERS' DAY to all our beautiful mothers out there and especially to my beautiful mum of whom I'd like to dedicate this lovely Tahitian/Tuamotu song. I love Josh Tatofi's rendition with Hawaiian hula represented.

Sending out love to mothers represented as single mums, working mums, stay at home mums, career mums, creative mums, student mums, nursing mums, teaching mums, caring mums, recovering mums and the list goes on.

I'm looking forward to spending time with my mum and taking her out for a meal and also in having my children over and spending time together as three generations of us. It's been a blessing being a mum and having such a loving and caring mum who taught me so much including the creativity that I'm able to share as a gift to my children as well.

For those who are missing their mums at this time our thoughts go out to you as it's never easy to lose someone who holds such an important nurturing responsibility in families. I know that my mum especially passed on some loving traits and caring qualities that I hold dear and that I've passed onto my children.

So please spare a thought to our mum's all over the world as we celebrate this special day. It's been such a blessing for me to be a mum and to have a beautiful mum who's been such a blessing in my life. Wishing all the mum's out there as special day to treat yourself or let someone treat you for the special roles that you play in families...

 

Yesterday, I spent some time with my eldest and she decided to have a look at our local Māngere Arts centre to see if there was a local art exhibition on.

It was really interesting to go with her and view the two exhibits. One regarding viewing photos on Taiwanese tapa making as compared with a second exhibition which was a Tongan tapa art installation that looked like a doorway similar to the reknown large rocks formation in Tonga.

The interesting thing about the Taiwanese art installation was that it also had Taiwanese words that were written down with some that were very similar to Samoan or Tongan words.

I had read that there was a connection between indigenous tribes of Taiwan and the Pacific as it was believed that Pasifika culture may have spread out over thousands of years but originated somewhere in the Taiwan islands region amongst its indigenous peoples.

After viewing the exhibitions, we saw that they had set up an art station complete with acrylic paints, water, paint brushes, easels and canvases. We couldn't pass up the beckoning of an opportunity to paint especially with gold and silver colours on the palette so away we went.

I finished two paintings in our 30+ minutes of painting (over achiever :) with tapa patterns on the left and a colour play displayed on the easel. My eldest painted the painting in the foreground and I liked it so much that I asked her if she didn't mind if I could use it for a possible front cover for one of my books. She agreed but also said that she could do a better one but I liked this one.

I left my two paintings behind to be displayed on the walls (with no signature) with the other paintings and it was great to contribute to the other artists who had also put their paint brushes to the test of creating something to be displayed for others' enjoyment.

So if you are wanting to give painting a go, why not have a look at your local art gallery or arts centre and see if they have an arts programme on that you can also contribute to and add to the artistic scene in your local area...

Love and laughter amidst sadness and sorrow...

 

When I first heard this Tongan love song, I thought how beautiful the tune was and it was introduced to me by my eldest child who also liked it. However, when I watched the music video it had me laughing at how they portrayed the song (although I wasn't sure of the ending?)

It's been a sad day in attending a funeral of a neighbour who was a very special mother, daughter, wife, friend, church sister and educator. I attended the family service but because I was seated close to a lot of other people (very packed) I wasn't able to leave as early as I wanted and ended up staying from 6pm to 10pm.

However, it was a beautiful send-off and the testimonies and lifestories were moving. She had touched so many lives with her generousity and caring nature. Plus she had a sense of humour and her own unique personality.

I think I only met her once as she had been working at the Ministry of Education which I had formerly worked at. She seemed very personable and our dads knew each other in living across from each other. It was definitely a shock to know that she had passed away so suddenly.

So watching this video made me smile again and remember the fun things in life that are light-hearted yet still aware of the burden of sadness that the family are now carrying having met some of them today in visiting with them.

But in the short time that I was able to be there, it was indeed a privilege to have been able to share this special final night with her, her friends and family. It reminded me of losing my father and what we went through but thankful that they have our Heavenly Father to help and guide them along this life's journey in missing this special woman of God...