"Pualena" beautiful cover by Josh Tatofi...

 Hope you're having a restful, well-deserved break with your family and friends this Easter Saturday. Today we managed to go to a local beach called Eastern Beach and we took some snacks, some beach chairs, and some smooth sounds on my gifted 'Wonder Boom' speaker. 

My lil' sis was the DJ and she had a great playlist that a young boy kept running past saying that he wanted to hear our music as we had our car parked up right next to the grass which was a couple of metres away from the sand and the ocean. 

So beautiful today in taking my mom out for a drive since it had been raining yesterday but today that sun was out and it beckoned me to take our family for a drive out and to just relax and enjoy the day together. 

Later we picked up some strawberry ice cream from our local Strawberry Farm then went and visited my late father's gravesite as a family with this special holiday in remembering the faith that he led us together as a family. Real special :)

One of the songs on my youngest's playlist was this song by Josh Tatofi which I understand is a cover of an earlier song. It was released a couple of years ago but it's the first that I've heard and I resonated with it as one of the names that I've been called as a child was Ela and sometimes called Elena by an Aunt who's passed. Just the right song to listen to at the beach too...

Congratulations to Samoa's Prime Minister with an Honorary Doctorate degree...

 

I big CONGRATULATIONS to Samoa's first female Prime Minister, Fiamē Naomi Mata'afa who today received her Honorary Doctoral degree in Law/s from NUS National University of Samoa. She is such a well-deserved candidate in having had to navigate some very murky waters since first becoming Prime Minister during the COVID-19 global pandemic.

I remember my late father following the election process and news from Samoa when he was well and it was so neat to know that she is now being honoured in this way too. As I do remember that the former Prime Minister before her also received one from a New Zealand university.

So now looking forward to Easter in remembrance of a special time in the Christian calender which is beyond Easter egss and hot cross buns but more about faith and hope in these interesting times. I'm so blessed for the faith that my parents brought me up in but also the values and principles that they taught me through fa'aSamoa that I now also hold dear too. 

All the best to you and your family this Easter time that it might be a time of rest and relaxation but also a reminder that there is a special reason for the season for when families come together that it all doesn't end when we die but that it is only the beginning....

Samoa's Motto: "E fa'avae e le Atua Samoa" which translates as God is the foundation of Samoa...

Canva templates on offer...

 

One of the websites that I've really enjoyed using is Canva. It's a versatile website that I use for presentations and using their graphics for many different projects. I'd highly recommend it for use and especially in that you're able to pay for the use of a variety of templates or use the free ones that they have on offer.

I recently received a certificate which is a new feature of the website for those users who like to try new things. It was quite a surprise to receive but it's a neat feature to encourage people to engage with their new ideas and different art forms.

I've even used the website for some of the graphics that I've used for this blog as well as for making up notices, posters, announcements, birthday animation cards etc. There's never been a time that I couldn't find anything there because there are so many templates to choose from. 

If you haven't given it a go, then why not give it a go over the Easter holiday break. You never know, you even might have it as your new go-to if you don't already have one. It's definitely something I'll be working with over the Easter break too on some upcoming projects...

Palm Sunday with Easter around the corner...

 

Yesterday, we celebrated Palm Sunday at our local church service with children walking around the church waving palm branches in their hands in reenacting Jesus' entry a week before Easter.

It feels as if the year has gone by real fast but perhaps that's because Easter is a week or so earlier with it being celebrated in March instead of the usual April.

I'm looking forward to the break time with Easter but also especially in spending time together with family for this special occasion away from work and school.

Although there's the commercial celebration of Easter by giving Easter eggs, chocolate bunnies, hot cross buns, etc. I'm just looking forward to a quiet time of reflection on the real reason for the season. In fact, looking forward to some downtime in writing and meditation...

PolyFest 2024 Samoan stage...

 

Last night, my family spent time watching replays of the PolyFest Samoan stage over the last two days that the Secondary school competitions were on. It was really interesting to watch from the perspective of studying measina (treasures) a Samoa.

It was even more interesting to watch with younger members of my family regarding their thoughts on the uniforms, the dancing, the music, and the formations. Congratulations to the overall winners of the Samoan stage who were from Avondale College, second were Manurewa High School, and third were student dancers from Papatoetoe High School.

What I really enjoyed watching was the encouragement that this present generation of students was learning from the dances that they were participating in. Although there were a lot of contemporary movements a lot of the dance were still rooted in the principles and values of fa'aSamoa and this was included also in the various marks that the Samoan judges anticipated.

Next year our youngest is considering joining a group as this year, the particular group that she wanted to join did not have a group due to unforeseen reasons but she's looking forward to next year in participating in one of the groups in this prestigious largest in the world competition...

49th PolyFest and Pacific writers...

 

This year boasts the 49th year of the PolyFest (abbreviated from Polynesian Festival). It's the largest Polynesian Festival of it's kind around the world.

I remember in its earlier years when it was hosted in schools but now it's gotten so big that they've even allowed live streaming so that more people can watch the competitions.

This year, I've given it a miss as I have so much work to get through, this weekend, but the 4-day festival (originally only one day) that has been drawing crowds from around.

My youngest is watching her friends perform on the different stages i.e. Cook Islands, Samoan, Tongan, Fijian etc. with so much variety of items in the competition and non-comp' stages to watch. Going to the festival can be a mission with trying to find carparking near the local site but the food stalls is another reason why so many people enjoy watching the performances and eating so many varieties of Pacific foods and other delicacies.

Instead, I'll be working on some writing, this weekend, and was pleasantly surprised to see my name mentioned in the catalogue of Canterbury University's Pacific Literature Library website. For me, as a self-published Samoan writer, it's an honour to be included and credited as a Pacific author alongside other amazing Pacific writers as listed.

It's something that I know that as a growing teen in South Auckland, I'm chuffed to see in that it validates the many experiences that I've written about and in not going through the usual publishing routes that many have taken. It's a blessing and an honour and looking forward to adding many more books to the list...

Special birthday for our youngest teen...

 

This week we celebrated the 13th birthday of our youngest with a small party at a local restaurant with family and she even got to take the day off from school which is something special that we give an option to have on this special day.

Becoming a teenager isn't quite a big deal in some families but as she has two older siblings, it was quite a special day for her and her grandma and the rest of the family. We're blessed to have her in now being a teenager rather than a "tween".

She was able to enjoy her special day and I took her out to do some special things that she wanted to do that we would otherwise not have time to do. It also gave me time to be with her to discuss her thoughts and it was very special for all of us too.

Sometimes we've even gone overseas to enjoy special birthdays, especially those that are significant as a way of enjoying the special day and having a holiday vacation. Nothing quite beats taking time off from busy days and chillaxing...

New Opportunities through patience...

 

Had a special celebration with my family as have been confirmed with a new opportunity to work with Post Graduate (level 8) students at our Wānanga (Indigenous Māori) tertiary institute.

It comes after starting my current level 4 Tikanga (Māori customs & protocols) class into their first week. I had hinted with the announcement that I would be leaving the class but would be starting them on their journey (which is a little inconvenient for them but still a privilege to make a start).

My eldest wanted to celebrate with this lovely chocolate layered with strawberries cake from our favourite "Cheesecake Shop". It has certainly been a blessing to share this news with them as I'd been working on finishing my thesis and knew that it was time to make a change.

I'd been wanting to work in the Post Grad' sector for some time but first put my family's needs at the forefront and especially my children's education in ensuring that they were well situated before endeavouring to complete mine. 

It's now been very assuring to see my elder two now settled in their University studies and my youngest settling into her first year in high school. I know that I'm way behind my career goal schedule but I wouldn't change a thing in putting their needs first.

So, for me, patience is definitely a virtue in being given this new opportunity to spread my wings and encourage other in their academic journeys to fly high. It's a gift that my parents shared with me that I now share with my children and others now in their academic journeys to not be gatekeepers but to break open opportunities for success...

Neat song to dance/step walk to...

 

I finally found the video on YouTube (I don't own the rights for the song) for this neat song that I'd been listening to on the car radio from our local Māori radio station 88.6 FM that you can turn up loud, download, stream, or dance and step to the beat. Great for line dancing too!

This was after I'd taken my usual one-hour Saturday morning walk around the neighbourhood block and met, with a quick "good morning" salutation, with quite a few other people doing the same thing early in the morning. 

Then I went shopping at a local mall to pick up supplies for next week as we're planning for the birthday celebration of our youngest member who becomes a bonafide teenager on Monday. We haven't quite decided on what exactly to do but we're looking forward to it.

So now that I've got this song, I'll have it on repeat and with the volume up real loud whilst doing my chores, stepping to the beat, and trying not to be distracted whilst finalizing my study chapters. I've finally downloaded "Grammarly" to now tidy up all the grammatical mistakes and spelling errors.

So here we go, down the final leg of the race and stepping to this beat...

"Katūīvei" launch invitation

 

So thankful to have been invited to publish one of my poems in a contemporary Pasifika Poetry collection by Massey University Press called "Katūīvei" ready to be launched, in Auckland, next month.

It's such a blessing as I've been writing poetry and prose since high school and to be included in this Pasifika collection is an honour and a privilege as a self-published writer.

It's also neat to know that there are many other Pasifika contributors of whom were also invited to contribute to the collection such as my Mana Māngere writers' collective colleague Niuean poetry writer, Saulaina Sale. Who has been a prolific writer of poetry with over 100 sonnets (if my recollection serves me well).

I'm looking forward to taking my children with me as they've been keen supporters of my writing since the very beginning and they've been to many of my self-published book launches but to be able to go travel together to the launching of this book with a collective of other Pasifika writers will be an incredible honour.

The collection has been 2 years in the making of when I was first approached to add one of my poems to the collection. I think the book launch was supposed to be at the end of last year but for some reason the delay postponed the launch to this year which works out well for me too. With more to write about in a blog to come...

In memory of a special teacher Ms. Jones...

 

Today, I attended the funeral service of a dear teacher known affectionately, as Ms Jones, with my middle daughter accompanying me. 

She was fondly remembered as my history teacher in my last year at high school. Through her, I learned about the English history of the Kings and Queens of the 15th to the 16th centuries of England.

She was a passionate teacher and really cared about her students. I remember that she was the first feminist teacher that I had ever met and she was active in Teacher Union and advocacy circles. 

However, today I found out that she was also passionate about NZ pottery and hiking. From her example, I too decided to call myself Ms. Tau'au as a teacher when I first started teaching with other female teachers preferring to use Mrs. or Ms.

I attended my high school of Ngā Tapuwae College as being reported of as the first multicultural high school of it's kind in NZ. At the time, most of our teachers were European and at her funeral, I met with many of my past teachers of Maths, English, History and they all seemed to have kept in contact with each other.

There were a few students, like me, who had come to pay tribute and even the first infamous principal of the school was there. I think she's in her 90's and even the deputy principal was there of whom I would sometimes joke with but he was a good mentor and helped me to navigate some of the difficulties of being in a South Auckland high school at the time.

It's funny, but looking back I couldn't wait to finish high school and then to get on with my life in never knowing that I would eventually become a teacher. I had thought at the time that you had to be pretty smart to be a teacher. I now know that you just need to have completed tertiary educations and to care for students and that's a pretty good pre-requisite to becoming a teacher.

I bought some flowers for the occasion but upon arriving a little late at the funeral service (went around in circles twice trying to find the chapel at the Elderly village) we finally found the place and ended up sitting in the second row from the front as there were no chairs left for two to be seated together.

I then decided to talk with the funeral director about where to take the flowers. She gave me the option of giving it to the family or going with the coffin. I decided to place it on top of Ms. Jone's coffin and they left with her in the funeral car.

It was a bittersweet moment in reflecting about how she had touched many of our lives as students only to then be present at her funeral. I thank our mutual friend, Christine McGuirk, for inviting me to attend. It was a real honour and privilege to stand in honour of the many lives that she touched as a teacher. 

I was also glad that my child was able to witness the special time in meeting with some of my former teachers only to now be a teacher myself. It's amazing how people can touch lives and not even be aware that they have gifted so much...