New book launch 'Fale Samoa'...

It's been a very busy few weeks with the exhibition planning and workshops delivery, then graduation for my first class in the Certificate in Indigenous Research and now the launch of my first book for the year and the 5th book in the 'origins' series or the 'tala o le vavau' (ancient Samoan stories) series.

This was a particularly interesting book to research because there is very little documentation or stories told about the origins of the design of the fale Samoa i.e. the traditional domed shaped roof with corresponding poles that hold it up as well as the foundation.

I came across this story many years ago and a couple of years ago on social media and thought that it was important for our next generations to know about one version of this important story.

And when it came to painting up the book, it presented some interesting challenges in understanding it's design and the environmental ideas that would have been taken into consideration when framing up the roof and the ingenuity and innovation of our forefathers who went about designing and building a house that was entirely environmentally friendly.

Sadly, in Samoa, few of the traditionally made houses are in existence as easier built, palagi styled, houses are now the norm in Samoa and hopefully the traditional art of making the frames of these houses will not be lost in time.

Looking forward to this Saturday midday book launch at SAAB Sei Oriana bookstore in Mangere, across from the town centre. It's also neat to be celebrating the housing of at least 8 of my books there that will also be sold on the day and awaiting Samoa in the near future...

Wonder Woman brief review...

On Queen's birthday weekend, I went on a girl's night out movie watch and we viewed "Wonder Woman". As a kid I enjoyed watching the TV series during the 1970s with Lynda Carter as the main character and I remember always thinking that compared to her male counterparts i.e. super heroes that she never really hurt the antagonists much and that she was very beautiful (by Western standards).

Her costume changed a little over time and she had the belt of truth and would swing around to change her clothing into her costume. She also had a crush on her partner and I remember first watching it on a black and white TV which later changed to colour so my expectations were quite high when we went to watch it.

And I wasn't disappointed. Some 30 - 40 years later, it's okay for women to kickass big time and to even beat up so many guys that it makes the bad guys look like girls (ha ha) although they did have to make her into a god to be able to explain how she was no normal woman.

There were some neat elements to the story especially the beginning explaining her Amazonian background. I didn't think her meeting with her naked co-star at the beginning being very necessary to the story and then it did seem over the top a the end of the movie but I did like the way they tried to explain the war to her and also how she couldn't understand why women dressed in such restrictive clothing.

When I reflect on how the role of women has changed drastically over a few decades of my lifetime, that now there is more freedom for women to pursue their dreams and goals, and that women are now able to take on roles that were traditionally only for men. I still think that women have been given a gift to be able to bring life into this world in our role as mothers, for those who wish to and nurturers for those who want to.

Wonder Woman, the movie, reminded me that no matter what happens or who's in charge that at the end of the day, it's the act of love and loving that conquers all that the greatest act of love is to sacrifice your life for another/others and I think that that was one of the neat themes of the movie...

Exhibition workshops with over 300 local students...

Install day of Pacific Hibiscus exhibition. Photo credits: King Kapisi 

This Queen's Birthday weekend, I've recovered and am so overwhelmed by the support of many people who helped to make last week's 'Pacific Hibiscus' exhibition with workshops for local schools a neat success in celebrating Samoan language week at Mangere Arts Centre.

I saw over 300 local students in 10 workshops with teachers and parents with some of whom it was their first time into the Mangere Arts centre facility. It was a privilege for me to share some of my stories, the 'Tanikoniko' Maori art exhibition in acknowledging the special place and relationship that we have with TangataWhenua (people of the land) and in workshops discussing dreams and Samoan ideas through creating zines or colouring the characters of the ancient Samoan stories.

I'd like to acknowledge my God for blessing me with such a wonderful experience, my parents who flew in from Samoa for birthdays and who attended this special occasion, my beloved Tofilau Fritz who helped out with the workshop especially as it was his birthday break but still took time out to support the cause; my wonderful family and friends who were at the launch or who couldn't but have supported me along the way. Faafetai tele - Many thanks.

I also want to thank Anna who is the Exhibitions manager and her team at Mangere Arts centre, Sally the Mangere Otara arts broker, Lydia and her team of board members of the local Mangere Otahuhu board and Alf, local Auckland councillor who all supported the exhibition. I even got to meet King Kapisi who took this photo and who shared some of his digital media experience knowledge with me. Faafetai tele mo le faasoa (thanks for sharing).

A big thanks goes to Laura from the Samoan business network of whom gave me a space at the mini-expo to display my books etc. at the local town centre which gave locals a chance to meet with me and I had some interesting discussions with many about publishing, writing and on a variety of subjects.

A truly humbling experience and one that I won't forget for a long time...

Bookstall at local markets...

Bookstall at local markets with Samoan business network

Yesterday, I was very busy with an early morning wake up to set up a bookstall with my middle child at our local markets at the Samoan business networks mini-expo. There were several stalls that included: selling Manu Samoa Tshirts which sold like hotcakes; a Real Estate agent; an Early Childhood Education awareness campaign; a Youth fundraising group; 2 banks; 1 Pacific loans group; SAAB: Samoan Bookshop and a Samoan music/CD outfit.

I'd like to thank the Samoan business network for this opportunity as it gives exposure to Samoan businesses and products to the general public but it also helps to profile entrepreneur enterprise in encouraging us to consider entering the business world and not to always work 'for the man' so to speak.

The neat thing was being able to talk to many people in being approached by members of the public who were genuinely interested in talking about the subject matter of the books and my research. One of the interesting comments that I received was the pride of knowing that we can write and produce books and not only Palagi.

Now considering my time and making a more regular appearance at the local markets to give an opportunity for people to discuss books and subject matter with me rather than through email queries. It's also important for me in sharing a lot of the knowledge that I've acquired, over the years, and not only in classrooms.

Definitely food for thought as there was a lot of interest in some of the old stories, research methodology and also views on being multicultural for indigenous and non-indigenous people groups. Watch the space...

Father's 80th birthday celebrations and many more...

Pic of my parents and Aunty Talosaga (right) at the exhibition launch

 This last week has been an absolutely fabulous and busy week! (hence not much activity on the blog). It started with the celebration of my father's 80th birthday breakfast in the morning and then we rushed over to the Mangere Arts centre to launch my first exhibition kindly sponsored by the local Mangere Otahuhu board and then off to the Orbit Restaurant in Skycity to celebrate his birthday.

The pic above of my parents and aunty Talosaga showcase my paintings boards in the background as my parents flew in from Samoa to not only celebrate my dad's birthday but to also attend my exhibition launch and a family wedding. I honour my parents and aunty as they have always been there for me and have supported me on my journey along the way and I thank God for them.

It was really special for me to have them attend as this was another dream come true for me. As a child I loved art at primary school and in intermediate I remember going to an exhibition of one of my screen prints that a teacher took to an exhibition and my parents took me to view it. I never took a pic but I remember being so proud that we got to view it with other student works.

And in taking Art in senior high school but not getting enough marks to enter Elam art school at University was a set back for me but it didn't stop the dream of wanting to paint and now the books have allowed me to express the artistic side of me that was suppressed for so long whilst pursuing academic credits in a teaching space.

This week I was given the privilege, through the kind funding of the local board to run workshops for local primary, intermediate schools and early childhood centres around my artworks in celebrating the Samoan language week. I was able to hold 10 workshops, give away books with 6 different schools which was such a blessing and got to be a guest speaker at my old intermediate school after some 40 years last entering a school assembly there.

Today, I'm off to continue celebrations with a stall at the Mangere markets in collaboration with the Samoa business network where we are showcasing our Samoan businesses (15 stalls) and this is such a neat opportunity to share my books and meet with our local community (although I usually shop locally to support our local businesses.

And then I'll be looking forward to winding down for a bit before the next book launch which is scheduled for this month and looking forward to launching 'Fale Samoa'...

First fieldtrip - EOTC Education outside the classroom...

 Looking forward this weekend to take my first fieldtrip with my Semester A class to the MIT campus in Manukau to view the "Auckland Stories - Taku Tamaki" exhibition which has a range of neat exhibits and also traces the history of the city of Manukau right back to the first known explorers and traces some of the main events to where we are today.

It's a good exhibition that sets that scene for the rest of the research which our class will be undertaking. I can share my understanding of the geography of the area and also have a shared discussion about some of the local areas and histories that class members are aware of.

The neat privilege of teaching this class is that it gives a chance to those who are either graduates, undergraduates or have not undergone any formal studies to get a taste of research in the sense that we do it daily without even giving it the formal term as for me, research is a daily/weekly activity that I undertake i.e. you don't have to have a degree to undertake research and that's one of the premises that I teach to demystify the term but to also discuss the differences between indigenous and western research models.

The other neat privilege about teaching this class is that I get to teach monthly weekend classes which require the class to be together for the weekend with shared meals from Friday night through to Sunday lunch time and this gives ample time for class members to get to know each other and also to talk in depth about the various topics that we undertake to discuss with the resources at hand via the library or internet.

We also have Tuesday weekend tutorials with an option of either a morning or evening tutorial whereby the class is able to discuss the weeks reading, the homework that is always set, to discuss the upcoming assessments and to generally learn new, often challenging, sometimes trying perspectives that may or may not equate with accepted non or indigenous practices.

But at the monthly weekend classes, the first half of Saturdays are for EOTC as it's called here as Education outside the classroom which I definitely encourage in that research should definitely not be just through the reading of books and literature but it's also about getting out into the community and observing, listening, considering, critically thinking, questioning etc. what is actually happening at a grass roots level.

To that end, we will also be climbing Mangere Mountain with a tour guide from the Mangere Education centre to get a better understanding of the Maori history behind the mountain, it's naming and the significance of the mountain from an indigenous perspective. We'll then have lunch together, weather permitting, and then retrace our steps back to campus for a debrief and more learning activities.

So much to do, so little time :) ...

Happy Mothers Day...

Happy Mothers Day to all our special ladies out there who have taken on a special but often challenging role of these juggling so many things in order to make the role of a mom happen. You deserve to be spoilt today despite the commercialisation of the day.

I think of my own mom who taught me so much and that I've taken on and continued teaching to my own children. Her creative skills and resourcefulness, I'm definitely not as skilled a home cook as she is but when pressed to can also whip up a batch of cookies or general meals.

Looking forward to her arrival from Samoa in a couple of days time and remembering the days that my dad would get us up early to make breakfast for her but then to also go to visit my grandmother to wish her a special day before she would go to church.

It's these special days that I think we owe it to ourselves to make it special for those who often sacrificed so much for us. I think of the times that my own mother made sure that I was okay as a kid with my aversion to the smell of petrol and often times I'd get carsick/boatsick/airsick and she was always there for me.

As mothers we also need to take time out of often busy roles as 'contemporary' mums to take a breather, a walk and enjoy a sunrise, a sunset, meditate and just enjoy the day without the rigours of pressing 'to do lists'. Even I need to take heed of my own advice to others.

May God Bless you all mum's and give you all and grant you a special day that is well deserved...

Working Draft of 'Mana Mangere Writers' Collective'...

 Today was the first day that our Writers' group officially came together to begin viewing the working draft of our first collection to be printed in a couple of months time. Our group was first established last year after I spoke with a few people and talked about getting a collection together and Indie publishing it.

It's quite exciting to be working with a group of writers with diverse backgrounds and experiences, viewpoints and a real privilege to be editing this collection. We have short story writers, poets, academic writers (like myself) with a range of topics, perspectives and all very talented. The previso being that participants must either work, study or live in Mangere.

What I find interesting also are the experiences within each story and poem that is being told and with a brief of written pieces being either to: encourage, inspire or educate the readers or audience and for future generations, I think each story carries its own weight.

The funny thing is that I haven't gone out to look for people except to advertise in various local digital media, my own networks and through word of mouth as I believe that the people who come forward are those who are meant to be in this group.

I also have to thank our communities' Mangere Otahuhu local board who have generously funded and are in support of this adventure and I hope that it will become one that will continue in time to come for a diverse community such as this.

I also would like to acknowledge the support of Sally, our local arts broker, who made the funding known to me in being able to access it for this neat project and all the various writers who are making their own dreams come true by sharing in this collection.

And it's only been two and a half years since I first self-pubished my first book so it's really neat to see the development in my own writing in now being in a position to be able to support other local writers' dreams to come true.

Camera, lights, action!...

"Sosefina" rendition by Fiji Veikoso...

One of my most fave Pasifika male recording artists of all time has to be 'Fiji' George Veikoso who hails originally from Fiji and also has Tongan ancestry and then moved to Hawaii and then to the US where his music developed for now over 2 decades. He was also influenced by a Samoan uncle in Fiji which gives him a very Pan Pacific feel to his music.

This song I originally heard from my parents tapes by a Samoan group called Tiamaa back in the 1970s. I absolutely loved their harmonies and remember some of their music about special relationships between family members.

This particular song that Fiji sings is a love song about a guy who proposes to a woman and wants to know if her feelings for him are the same. Really love this rendition of the origin and even when my beloved sings this song. Simply beautiful! The Samoan words are wonderfully metaphorical when translated into English too.

Another neat fact about Fiji is that he speaks Fijian and sings this song beautifully in pronunciation as a non-Samoan. He also sings Maori, Hawaiian and Tongan songs. I think a neat role model for our young Pasifika youth wanting to make it big in the music industry as he talks about not forgetting our roots, of being humble, of sharing our beautiful cultures and giving God the glory.

He was here in NZ earlier and you can check out his music on YouTube! Enjoy...

Finally to view upcoming "The Shack" movie...

I'm a real big fan of the "faith movies" that are being released and especially looking forward (with some trepidation) of viewing the movie "The Shack". I read the book some years ago when my children were younger and it's a story about every parent's nightmare of their child being abducted and what can happen as a result.

The book left a big impression on me at the time of what I would do and feel and the main character goes through what so many parents would experience in feelings of fear, then relief and anger but the story is actually a lot more in that it speaks about our relationship with God which is at the core of the movie.

It took some time to understand the gist of the book but I think the writer, William P. Young, thought it through and it is well crafted and is often confronting as it is tragic. The book itself is summarized as being "where tragedy confronts eternity" and I would definitely recommend reading the book before watching the movie to get full understanding of the intentions of the author.

The short bio in the book describes William P. Young as being a Canadian who was raised by missionary parents in the highlands of New Guinea. It says that he suffered loss as a child and young adult but lives with his family in the Pacific Northwest.

Definitely a book worth reading, and a movie worth watching as tragic as it may seem...

Today was a neat day with my family as we attended church together at Life South which is located in Manukau, Auckland.

It's a multicultural church with a neat vision of supporting our communities and also reaching out to those who are needing/wanting to look after their families within a Christian faith.

Next week we have our annual 4 day conference with the theme of "More". I'll be going to the evening sessions with work but my beloved will be attending the whole conference which will be neat for him as he also leads a men's group and supports dads and single men in pursuit of what God has in store for them too.

Today, at church was a surprise for me as one of the ushers in church was a past pupil whom I taught some 20+ years ago and she had come into mind a couple of weeks ago and I had wondered what had happened to her as she had had some troubling times. Today I found out that she was doing well and worked in my suburb not far from where I work/live.

It also reminded me of the time when I was an English teacher that one of my favourite things to set and read was writing journals in that each week I'd set a few topics for students to write on and students could choose what to write about. It was a personal communication with me and some students didn't think much of it but others took it seriously and I came to know students well in some of the things they shared.

After church we went to a Korean buffet restaurant, for the first time, for a meal and were nicely surprised at the healthy menu which had many dishes that we were not so familiar with but tasted nice. Our children particularly enjoyed the tasty dumplings and various dishes. We definitely want to return for another tasty treat and neat not to have to cook on a Sunday after church...

"The Case for Christ" movie review...

Went today with my elder two to watch the movie "The case for Christ" as mentioned in an earlier blog. After watching it, I must say I was pleasantly surprised as to the information that the movie gave about the various evidences that confirm that there was indeed a resurrection of Jesus that has changed the face of the earth since its inception.

The movie was based on a true story and I thought what was interesting about Lee Strobel (the main character) was the many different arguments that he came up with to try to disprove that there was indeed a man called Jesus, let alone a resurrection.

Journalism is a genre of writing that is based on facts and his attempt to try to disprove his wife's faith was indeed intriguing. I think that even many Christians may go through a time of questioning whether their based is faced on fact especially in a time when technology and scientific theories reign supreme.

I think I came out of watching the film affirmed that what I believe in still holds true in a type of 'blind faith' whereby I trust because of what I have seen, experienced or felt. It also answered my youngest's question which was why I believe what I believe and that it is based on the very experiences that prove that there is more to believe than not to.

Another faith movie that I am also looking forward and that I watched the trailer at this movie is called "The Shack". When I first read the book some years ago, I thought that it would make a tragic type of movie that would also show triumph. Looking forward to when this happens and will take my family along for those who are interested...

Painting up new book to be released in June...

In between mommy/wife duties, studying, working and relaxing have started painting up our next English/Samoan bilingual picture book ready for a book launch around Samoan language week (27 May to 3 June).

This is quite exciting because I haven't painted up canvases for a book since last year as have been very busy with my new job in teaching and studying too. However, it is quite relaxing in taking time out of thinking or planning to paint up each board which takes several hours per canvas.

The new book is about a Samoan cultural phenomenon which is dying out quite rapidly because of limited natural resources but also because the art of making it is only in the hands of a few. The story explains the origins as I've researched and it's the only story that I've come across that sounds genuine of it's kind.

I'm also hoping that the canvases will be ready to display at the 'Pacific Hibiscus' exhibition at Mangere Arts Centre during Samoan language week with workshops for local schools during Samoan language week.

I haven't released any new books so far this year due to the 2 community projects i.e. community exhibition and workshops and coordinating a book by local writers that I'm working on so this book will be the first of a few that I have planned for this year. Never a dull moment...