Ice cream celebration and mourning...

Last week, I was able to attend a Scholarship luncheon for some of the students in our postgraduate diploma course (from my colleague's class) who had received scholarships.

I offered to be the designated staff driver to support the celebratory group. However, I missed the turnoff on the motorway and had to drive in a roundabout way to get to the venue on time.

It was a very happy occasion that helped to distract me from some very sad news about the sudden death of a work colleague who had passed away that very same morning.

There are now plans for many to pay their last respects, and I found it so sad that I had blogged about the 65th birthday gift that I had given to her, only for her to pass away a few weeks later from a suspected aneurysm.

We will dearly miss her, and so driving down to Hamilton for the celebratory occasion kept me busy and in good spirits with the group and afterwards I was 'shouted' to an ice cream at Pokeno, which is known for its amazing flavoured ice creams, as can be seen in the photo.

The particular flavours I chose were a scoop of rum and raisin (I like the raisins but not so much the rum), and the top scoop was deluxe ambrosia on a fresh cone. It was definitely worth the trip, and then we returned to Auckland, and I took the weekend to mourn before returning back to marking student work.

It was also a reminder to cherish the times that we have with our loved ones and to take the time to celebrate the little ones as well as the big ones. She reminded me of the 'salf of the earth' kind of person who got along with everyone and didn't let her circumstances affect her outlook on life. She was also super-fit and I'm glad that I got to know her as a friend and colleague...

 

Open Day at Manukau campus of Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi...

 

Last week, I was invited to TWWOA (Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi's) Open Day to sit on a panel with other postgraduate students and share our study journeys with prospective Master's or PhD students. It was a real honour to sit there and share, and also especially to meet my supervisor and gift her with a measina kava or ava bowl (symbolic) from my studies.

In my rush to get to the Open Day, I remembered I still hadn't bought her the measina gift from Samoa, so I decided to go to my local Sei Orana SSAB store, just down the road from where I live and to find that special 'something' for her.

There, I bought a small tanoa and a lavalava to go with it. The very helpful cashier put it in a box with the lavalava and added a symbolic hibiscus flower to go with it. Then he tied a beautiful burgundy ribbon around it after I placed a handwritten card inside it.

I was beaming when I walked out of that shop, as I had finally kept true to my promise and when I passed it over to her, I knew that she was quite 'chuffed ', and I was honoured that she accepted it with much grace. She was certainly that quiet support that I needed during my studies, although she probably didn't quite know what I was on about half the time.

But I will always acknowledge that she played a pivotal role in my completing my PhD in the way, shape and form that it took. She gave me the space to just 'breathe' in completing my nemesis PhD. That was all I needed in that space, and the thesis was able to take form and thrive...

Hidden gem of a poem on a bridge...

 

Here's a piece of poetry etched into steel on a bridge that I frequently walk across. It's interesting how it's placed at the beginning and the end of the bridge, and it's the first time that I've encountered poetry etched onto a sculpture on a bridge.

It doesn't say who the author or the sculptor is, and many people walk past it every day and would be none the wiser.

I think it's one of those hidden gems that it just takes one to have a close look and then be presented with a poem; it's so neat to see.

I'm sure that there are more of these hidden gems placed around, but it might take a good eye, some patience, and not being rushed to be able to 'catch' these moments.

Which reminds me that I'd been so busy with so many things on my plate that I quite missed the annual poetry day last month. So I thought I'd write a poem about the poem that I'm blogging about and see how it goes:

Poem etched on a bridge

Many don't see you as they run, walk, cycle across the bridge

holding hands, exercising, talking, laughing, puffing away

you hold your space, waiting, watching, wondering if someone

will behold your secret, your hidden gem, a poem of a fish.

A little hand wonders at your markings as she places her hand

on the words that she hasn't quite deciphered, so young, patient

whilst her grandmother pulls her away to see the funny birds.

A sad figure with tears stops but doesn't see you, eyes afar.

Another walks past but then backtracks, missing the words 

but seeing the deliberate rust above the anonymous sculptor's

artwork, then rushes away to capture other thoughts 

then you see her slowly walking, reading the words suspended.

Time stands still as she ponders, continues walking, absorbing.

Ash-grey hair poking out of a sun-bleached hooded jacket.

Life has been kind to her, and she reads between the lines that

someone had taken the time to present a moment of beauty.

She sighs, sees the expanse of the bridge ahead and wonders 

how a moment of slowing down allowed her to experience 

the delight of a poem carefully crafted and etched into a bridge

whilst others rush past into their day, missing a rare beauty.

 

Kelly-styled white stitched bag...

 

I've been really enjoying the space of working with Babylon leather and stitching this Kelly-styled bag from a kit.

As a creative practitioner, I find myself looking towards my next project, whether it's a painting, a sketch, or crocheting a scarf, visiting a museum or viewing an exhibition; the creative possibilities are endless.

This is currently my favourite thing to do, as it reminds me of the skills that my mother taught me of hand stitching or hand sewing with a creative project in mind.

I know that it harkens back to the creative DNA that was passed down from my matriarchal ancestral line, with my great-grandmothers from Samoa, weaving mats and making tapa cloth whilst learning the skills and tools entailed.

Passed down to me through my mother and now to my daughters, with my youngest announcing that she was the first in her photography class to complete her photography board ready for examining at the end of the year.

This gave me great satisfaction in knowing that the creative gene has been passed down to all three of my children, each having completed senior years with art or photography and creativity as a part of their educational learning journey.

Now looking forward to making a Berkin-styled bag as my next project with a different colour and size. What's so neat is that I don't have to think about cutting out the pattern or priming the resources because that's already done.

All I need to do is follow the video instructions and try to keep in sync with the sewing of it, then relax and enjoy the creation. But that's another journey and I'll post on the finished product of that too when the time comes...

Over 1 million views and new novel work...

 

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A big THANK YOU for the 1,000.000+ views on this blog. I hope that it is of some use to regular readers, especially if you're interested in some of the topics that I regularly blog about.

I'm also encouraged to announce that I'm working on my second novel. The first I wrote back in 2012, and it's still making its way towards printing. Now that's another long story.

Perhaps the two go hand in hand someday, but currently working on drawing the threads together with memories, ideas, character arcs, timelines, places and events.

There's so much to take into consideration, and even more so with some parts radiating out from my life experiences and also with the ways that I view the world.

It's been some time in the making, as I knew that it would have to do with an epic journey of sorts and of finding what I was looking for from the get go.

I'm also interested in how it draws from my PhD indigenous research and some of the things that I discovered along the way. It's also informed by my growing up in Aotearoa NZ and some of the profound things that I learned about Samoa as well. 

That's enough to go with as I continue to sort and check out pieces of the puzzle or mystery of this novel. Not to mention that I will have different 'voices' and perspectives in the novel with so much to write about. The world is a writer's oyster...

New sponsored child with 'World Vision'...

I received an exciting letter this month and wondered why it was so thick. As you might know, if you've been following my blog over the years, was that I was inspired to sponsor children not only overseas but also within my own country.

With the overseas organisation, I chose to stay with World Vision, as it's an organisation that I have known since growing up in church, and our Sunday school used to sponsor children in those early years.

When I started having children of my own, I thought that it was important to be able to share the burden with other mothers overseas who needed support and over the years, I've been able to sponsor children in different overseas countries.

The letter I received from World Vision explained that the child that I had sponsored for some years in Bangladesh was now exited from the programme. They had fulfilled their goals of becoming self-sustaining within the World Vision programme that the community had been able to sign up to and no longer needed the support of the sponsors. 

It was so encouraging to see the community's 'thank you' video, and I was encouraged that the goals of receiving better sanitation, educational supplies, growing food, having small businesses, and children's educational goals had grown so much that they were able to exit the programme.

I think one of the goals that really stood out for me, as a sponsor, was finding out that they had been able to stop 123 child bride marriages that otherwise would have taken place. If anything, it's things like that that compel me to continue to support the education of children and especially girls in third-world countries.

They've now given me another option to support another child in another area in Bangladesh, and I'm happy to support. I've now signed up to support areas where the need is greatest, and I'm happy to support any child. 

If it's something that you think you can financially commit to in monthly, annual or fortnightly payments, then I'd encourage you to do so. I get so much joy in sending Christmas and birthday cards to the child with stickers and encouraging letters to the family. In supporting other families in other countries who need a helping hand...

 

IIRC International Indigenous Research Conference, 2026 Auckland...

 

I am looking forward to presenting at IIRC 2026, the International Indigenous Research Conference taking place at the University of Auckland from 17-20 November 2026.

It is one of the International Indigenous Research conferences that I've been looking forward to attending. I don't think it will be the same as the WIPCE World Indigenous Peoples Conference in Education 2025 that I really enjoyed presenting at in November of last year and having a book stall there, but it still will be very interesting to attend.

The abstract that I submitted was around 500 words, asking for details of Indigenous researchers from potential presenters that align with the overall conference theme of: Kei tua o te pae| Beyond the horizon. Now this is a very interesting research theme, and there are also sub-themes as follows:

* Pae Ahurei - Living Uniquely

* Pae Ora - Living Well

* Pae Tawhiti - Living Lightly

* Pae Auaha - Living Smartly

I'm awaiting further instructions for my conference funding application with my wānanga (Māori tertiary higher learning institute), and also the conference organisers, and the strand that I have been accepted to present at is the 'Living Uniquely' strand, which will again be very interesting to consider...