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| "Loimata o Apa'ula" (1989) with youth from Nofoalii village after climbing Mt. Vaea. (Me in front with blue T sleeveless T shirt.) |
It's amazing to think that when this picture was taken those many years ago as a fresh post graduate from the University of Auckland, that there was much that I would learn and many doors would open in the arena of education that I hadn't really envisaged that I would enter into.
My first loves have always been art, music, writing, reading, academics in no particular order and I was brought up in a household where anything was possible with the belief that with good work ethics and values would bring about endless possibilities despite the lack of finances, experience and role models. We just did the hard yards i.e. studying for school and kept trying against the odds.
I'll always be grateful for my parents for believing in me and for encouraging me even when I wasn't always so sure about what I was doing. I always felt my parents praying for me and I was brought up with strong family values and continue to dedicate my books to them.
This pic also reminds me of a time when I was able to dive into "Loimata o Apa'ula" and even wrote a poem about it that was published in my first poetry collection "Pacific Hibiscus" (2016) called "Lessons from Mt. Vaea". As far as I'm aware, when I went to visit the pool and waterfall the signpost and path took me to a knee high wading pool and my assumption is that it was buried for some reason that is unknown to me. Please do tell me if this is not the case.
And this is the reason why I write about knowledge and values that are not always being passed on in wanting to preserve the stories of an almost forgotten past to inform current generations for their future...
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