Pasifika Farewell for TWOA CEO...

Source: TWOA Mangere campus Samoan gifts

Last week at work, we had two celebrations. The first was a welcome to our new CEO who is also the first Māori woman to be CEO of our organization. 

We then farewelled our current CEO as he retires to a more relaxing lifestyle with his family. Both worked at the campus that I'm at until they journeyed to other opportunities.

It was so interesting to see them again in different capacities. The pic shows some of the gifts that were gifted to our outgoing CEO.

He was a gracious leader and much respected. The gifts were from the Pasifika staff including the islands of: Tonga, Samoa, Tokelau, Cook Islands and also Niue.

The gifts that are shown are from our Samoan staff which includes: carvings of old Samoan weaponry, the ula fala (necklace often worn by chiefs), a modern bag, a cup, an aloha shirt (blued), earrings for his loved ones, and malu designs (mainly for women) on lavalava.

The farewell was a beautiful occasion with each group represented wearing their customary dress, each Pasifika group had a representative who gave a speech and then their gifts flowed with dance and music. I liked the Cook Islands group as they ended with a drum dance that's called "Around the world". 

This is where any unsuspecting visitor is asked to dance by one of the accomplished dancers to Cook Islands drumming. It is always funny to see the men trying to dance to the beat and women as well. I was asked but then gave the opportunity to one of our unsuspecting senior leaders who was surprised. All in all we had a great time.

I was also given the privilege of sitting next to our outgoing CEO and to explain to him what the gifts were and any questions that he might have as it can be quite daunting to be seated by yourself and having so many gifts being landed on your lap, in front and surrounding him. 

As he had so many lei on from the different groups that it was quite difficult for him to move too. At the end a photo was taken of him with the Pasifika staff and all the gifts gathered in front. It was definitely a farewell with a lot of sentiment and honouring...

Weaving mats in safeguarding measina a Samoa...

 

It's been a crazy busy fortnight with so much going on. During that time, my mum and I were able to weave another fala or mat as I had started weaving in Samoa during our last holiday and thought to continue it in Auckland as I had already brought some pandanus over for weaving.

Unfortunately, some of the pandanus fronds were a bit too dry but on the whole we were able to complete a mat with the pandanus that was weaveable.

As you can see in the pick on the left, the first recipient to sleep on the mat was one of our four cats. As it was a particularly hot day and he was very happy to lie down and fall asleep on the cool matting.

My mum has since started another one and I'll be helping to keep up with the weaving as she is looking at showing me how to weave a baby's mat.

Sadly, a baby's mat was something that was given to new born babies by a weaving relative or withing the village but this is a practice that is no longer happening and something that I'm so glad my mother is teaching me about so that I can share with my community in time.

I see this as a measina a Samoa or cultural treasure that needs to be revived as it continues the cultural heritage practices from whence we came and is something very special that I hope to be able to speak about in time to come...

Cultivating Gratitude...

I came across this infographic last year when I was going about my business. It had some really interesting ideas to consider regarding cultivating an attitude of gratitude. 

I'd also heard that this could be particularly important for those going through depression in cultivating a mindset that was actively looking at changing negative and often debilitating mindsets.

One of the aspects that it speaks to is keeping a gratitude journal. This is a great idea as it can also support considering important things one can be grateful for.

At present, I keep a daily journal that's helpful as a devotional. It's something that had been my goal last year and I'm happy to report that it works well for me and keeps my thoughts focused on the positive.

So if you haven't already tried these exercises for this new year, it might be something to consider doing as can often be the thing that refreshes your mindset and soul and takes you on a new journey towards positive goals that you are already working towards...