I also had the privilege of visiting a Mangere school, Favona Rd Primary, where they were celebrating Samoan language week by asking me to read to the Samoan and other interested students and a Samoan parent shared about customs and protocols of the faaSamoa.
I read "Sina and the Tuna" and had one interesting question from a student who asked "how did the Tuna turn into a coconut?" as one who has been a teacher/parent and has been asked many questions such as these I carefully answered, "it's like how in Beauty and the Beast, the Beast turns into a prince at the end well, that's the same with the tuna, it's about using your imagination and in those days people really believed that it happened. Not sure that that was the best way of answering the question but he seemed satisfied with the answer.
They also gifted me with some amazing gifts: the beautiful flowers, the nice necklace and matching small sei and an $ envelope (in the pic above at my work office) which was so humbling and altogether unexpected and I want to thank Judy, the teachers at the school and their privilege of being able to share this story with the next generation. May God continue to bless children and teachers wherever I get to share these stories with them.
Tomorrow my family is also flying out to Sydney for a week for birthday celebrations for my beloved, to meet family and friends living in Sydney and to also check out book promotion across the Tasman. If you would like to make contact and arrange for an author reading at a local school please message me and we can arrange the details etc.
Sydney, here we come...
No comments:
Post a Comment