"The Deadly 1918 Influenza in Samoa" upcoming book ...

The cover picture of "The 1918 deadly influenza in Samoa"

Our next book has been a labour of love for me and it's way overdue since working on it for a couple of years but as it's a more personal story.

I wanted to ensure that the right information was conveyed for audiences and lots of hours went into researching the background of the book.

It's the story of my great grandfather who was buried in Faleula in a lone grave next to a church on a corner.

Many times I've taken my children to visit the grave and view the site as well as to tell them the story of their ancestor. Oftentimes I'd drive past the site and acknowledge my mother's grandfather of whom we knew not.

Not much is known about him except that it was an aunty who told me of his story in knowing that I was very interested in historical information about Samoa and also about our family histories.

In researching the information behind how the Influenza epidemic took such a devastating toll in Samoa was sad and the details quite horrific in that thousands died and yet many Samoans in recent times were unaware of this huge scale tragedy.

I also came to learn that some families have lost knowledge of their gafa (family genealogies) or were incomplete because key members of the family and holders of the knowledge had died during this time and no one was able to carry that information into recent times.

I am so grateful that I had family members who were able to share the information of my great grandad with me so that I can pass on his story to my children and beyond as it has shaped our Islands to what it is today.

It is the second book in our historical series and I hope that this series it will be able to inform our Samoan children, and other interested readers, of some of the important historic events that happened in Samoa. Lest we forget.

"Auckland - the best place for Pasifika to live" live debate 18 April ...

 This Thursday 18 April, I'll be attending a live debate which is being co-hosted by the Pacific Peoples Advisory Panel (which I am a member of) with Auckland Council. The topic debate topic will be "Auckland - the best place for Pasifika to live?"

Venue: Western Springs Garden Community Hall, 956 Great North Road, Western Springs, Auckland

Time: 10.30 am to 12.30 pm (light refreshments will be served)

Register: For planning purposes (seating and food arrangements) please register your attendance with sonya.inger@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz by Tuesday 16 April (today).

The following information includes information from the Media Release:

It's going to be a facilitated panel of well-known and up and coming political, economic and cultural commentators and they'll cover important issues to our Pasifika peoples that are relevant to working and living in Auckland i.e. housing affordability, belonging and civic participation.

After the debate, the panel will summarise key points and suggest recommendations on how Auckland Council can address issues that are raised and explored during the debate as our Panel advises Auckland Council on its strategies, plans and policies to deliver better outcomes for Pasifika peoples. The panel also strives towards building a stronger connection between Auckland's Pasifika communities and the Council.

Looking forward to attending this event and the interesting perspectives and issues, challenges, celebrations and discussions that are going to be highlighted on the day. I would definitely recommend this as the place to be this Thursday coming...

My RAM for today - wheelchairs back to Airport terminal ...

My RAM (Random Act of Kindness) for today was picking up some wheelchairs at our local International airport and wheeling them back from the carpark to the Airport terminal.

This morning my family went to take my parents to the airport for their return flight to Samoa as it's faster for them to go via wheelchair rather than to slowly walk over to the boarding gate with people racing past them.

I've learnt that it's faster to go to the carpark to source wheelchairs than to ask staff to look for one for us and to have to wait for ages whilst this is happening.

I know that people are probably busy meeting up with their family members or friends etc. and then end up leaving wheelchairs in the car park but spare a thought for the next disabled person who needs a wheelchair and then has to wait whilst staff try and locate it or are too busy to and then the poor person has to find somewhere to sit whilst awaiting their turn.

So that was my RAM for the day in seeing so many wheelchairs waiting for staff to wheel them back to the terminal from the carpark, I  took our eldest and decided to wheel some wheelchairs back to be used for the next passenger to use as often we get into the thought that someone else gets paid to do this job but I also know that when I was a waitress that I appreciated it when people would clear their own table and then it would be one less thing for me to do for the busy day ahead.

So please spare a thought for those who work in our various service industries and a thought for our people with disabilities and if you are able to do a RAM for them, then you just made one more person happy for the day...

Supporting Friday Gumboot Day ... squish, squish, squish...

Supporting gumboot Friday

Today's 'Gumboot Friday' and it's a neat initiative that Mike King and 'I am Hope' have started to raise monies for free counselling for kids.

Monies are being collected on different sites such as our local Kiwibank online banking site or other social media sites that are accepting monies on their behalf.

Yesterday, our youngest reminded me of her school's support for the day and the fact that she didn't have any gumboots to wear so we trudged off to our local Warehouse to buy some.

There we met with many other parents taking their children to buy gumboots either 'cause they couldn't find them or they don't fit anymore or it's just a good reason to buy another pair of gumboots.

It was really interesting too with all the different types of gumboots that were available like the full length 'I mean business' black gumboots, the polka dotted midway gumboots that our youngest decided to buy and my wanna be gumboots with the dainty flowers that are slip ons.

Not to mention the many gumboots that are Disney licensed or themed gumboots like the pink flamingos on a black background or the glittery gumboots etc. There were definitely so many to choose from that it could take a whole day to try on different pairs for comfort and fit.

So after choosing our gumboots and making sure we left some behind for the next discerning buyer we went home and our youngest wanted to sleep with hers because she thought it was such a novelty but went to sleep without them.

Only to then put my gumboots on to jump into the car onto work then upon taking a few steps to my workplace, I realised that these were the squishy kind of gumboots that go squish, squish, squish every time I walk anywhere.

Oh well, what can I say. Happy Gumboot Friday! squish, squish, squish...

Supporting the Arts in South Auckland ...

Large NZ sheep sculptures outside Papakura library complex

This week had some time with our local Arts committee to read through, discuss and approve (or seek more information on) funding for local arts projects that would benefit access, participation and target groups for our particular local communities.

I must say that it is a privilege to be with like-minded people who support and understand the importance of the arts in our everyday lives and it's been really interesting in being able to discuss and provide guidance with the many interests I have had over the years in the arts.

I think of growing up in my local church and learning Cook Islands, Niuean and Samoan dance/s; being able to both write, direct and perform plays, creative dances, participating in choir singing, art installations etc. in recognition of the talents that we'd been gifted with in song, dance, music and many performances in different languages.

Then joining a band at school and playing lead guitar whilst singing and performing, learning piano, going to orchestral concerts, watching live plays/drama and learning an appreciation for theatre whilst, reading and writing and learning about them.

That was later transferred to writing, directing and producing school productions on limited budgets for sell out crowds of supportive families. Directing and the choreography of creative dances and teaching drama, watching inspiring movies and going to inspirational music concerts or art exhibitions.

So now in being able to support our local communities in their community arts projects and passing on and maintaining diverse cultural arts in dance, music, performances, drama, movement, art exhibitions, art installations, sculpture, photography, painting etc. sometimes it's taken for granted that these things happen around us without seeing the hard work that goes on behind the scenes to make these things happen especially when resources are hard pressed to find and the artists are limited.

That's why such committees and these resources are so important to play a role in supporting the accessibility of the arts in our local communities and all I can say in the way of applications is to add the detail of the thinking and the budget:

• of why it's important and the reasons
• who benefits and the details on accessing the group
• the details of the budget with business quotes
• explain if there are any conflicts of interest
• to be connected to target communities eg. youth, Maori and Pasifika, Refugee, isolated communities for access and participation
• have people of expertise who will support applications with letters of recommendation etc.

And with our local population growing in numbers and particularly in our region of South Auckland being one of the most diverse places in the world (population wise) it's no wonder that the arts plays an important role in sharing our diverse stories, talents, movements, voices, music, art etc. with the rest of the world...

Unplanned: Sneak Peek on new movie...

When I opened up my Facebook account to catch up on various news items etc. I came across a Facebook news item regarding banning 'Hate groups' like the ones that are associated with the Christchurch slayings. They were even named and I guessed shamed.

It was interesting to read in the comments that people left on the feed that there should be an outright ban on any groups that posted or boasted hate messages against any peoples regarding religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation etc.

A few news items later, I came across a news item about a movie in which the trailer was being banned in different states in the US. I decided to find out more information and came across a new movie that is being promoted this month in the States called "Unplanned".

In watching the trailer and some of the background information about the movie I realised the reasons regarding why such a movie and trailer would be controversial in that it deals with the stark realities -surrounding abortion with many sides to it but the main being either: pro-life (anti-abortion) or pro-choice (pro-abortion).

I think it's a movie that I'll be taking my older children to watch and hope it comes to NZ too. I remember in being a high school teacher, many moons ago, that I'd hear about some of our young Pasifika women going to have abortions and then returning to school to finish off their education. The reasons were numerous but always the young women was changed for life.

In most instances the families never found out about it as parental permission was not and is still not needed although schools won't allow a student to go on a school trip without a parental permission slip. This movie reminds us that there are other human beings suffering violence in a society that is too blind or deaf to even realise what's going on behind the scenes of abortion clinics.

This movies is based on the true story of an 8 year pro-abortion clinic worker and later, director (Planned Parenting) and the change of mind she has when she witnesses an actual abortion procedure by a new doctor in the clinic in the first trimester (3 months).

This movie will definitely trigger many angry and emotional responses especially for women who have had abortions and have healed and those who still haven't healed. I think the line that stays with me from the trailer is that although one might have an abortion, it never takes away the memory of the baby, often our most vulnerable humans on earth...

R&R at our youngest's birthday celebrations...

 Last weekend, we had a special lil' 8th birthday party for our youngest at our local pool and park facilities. It was definitely a reminder to me about how important it is to meeting regularly with family for family celebrations rather than being reminded at funerals or when dire circumstances happen.

I was also grateful that our youngest's friends also came to join in the celebrations and we had a ball in seeing her having a neat relaxing time, in fact, we decided to all jump into the pools ourselves, at the end of the day and made it quite a day of R&R (rest and relaxation) after the run around to get things ready.

Suffice to say that having family was wonderful, the food was delicious and the fun was plentiful, so much so, that we almost went at the same time as the pools closed. So when we went home it was in a relaxed state that we took into the rest of the weekend.

I'd definitely recommended a lot of R&R and especially whilst the weather holds out as we approach our season of autumn with it's beautiful March cooler breezes, some sun and golden hour receding to a close...

'Fighting with my family' movie...

Last night I got to watch 'Fighting with my family' a movie about the backstory to 'Paige' a WWE professional wrestler's debut into the professional world of wrestling. It tells the story about how her family ran a wrestling business that her parents owned and that her older brothers had been a part of but neither of her brothers had made it big and it became her wish to "fight for her family."

It was an interesting movie in light of the recent events in Christchurch in that this movie promotes the use of violence for entertainment purposes and also as a business. The interesting part about the movie was that her parents discussed how having a wrestling business kept her father out of a life of crime and it became their 'salvation' in being able to pay their bills and bring food to the table.

They were also able to assist other young people in their community by offering wrestling classes for those who were interested. In fact, a blind wrestler that they worked with became a professional wrestler as credited in the movie.

I remember growing up in the 70s and 80s, with my dad as a big wrestler fan having been a boxer in his younger days and we'd watch 'On the mat' which was one of NZ's first wrestling programmes with some early Samoan wrestlers like Peter Maivea (Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson's grandfather), Samoan Joe. Jimmy 'Superfly' Snuka (Fijian) etc.

In fact, I remember my dad buying our family tickets so that we could go to the YMCA in town and watch some matches which had few people and nothing like the mass audiences and atmosphere now seen on TV all over the world but especially in USA where it's a mega multi-million dollar business.

My favourite wrestler of recent times although now turned actor has got to be 'The Rock' Dwayne Johnson being part Samoan, that was definitely a no-brainer for me and he also starred in the movie in recognising that he too came from a family of wrestlers.

So although it was an interesting movie that condones violence for entertainment purposes much like how World heavy weight boxing matches are a drawcard for sport fans and families with Samoans like David Tua and Joseph Parker getting into the mix. It's definitely a movie that got me thinking...

Pasifika 2019 at Western Springs this weekend is cancelled...

The annual Pasifika Festival set to open this weekend at Western Springs has been cancelled. This is the second largest festival of it's kind to be cancelled following in the footsteps of the last day cancellation of the Polyfest of last week.

This was after some speculation, on social media, that the Pasifika might still continue as a festival of bringing diverse people groups together in celebrating Auckland's diversity but the Auckland Tourism bureau has since made the call in discussion with the Police for the safety of the Public.

This is quite understandable in the aftermath of what happened in Christchurch last week. In passing the two local Mangere Muslim schools i.e. a co-ed primary school and a girls' high school there were heavily armed police carrying firearms at the gates of the school and armed police outside the mosque gates where many flower tributes had been lain. This is unprecedented in our local community in not having ever seen this type of police presence ever outside a school or place of worship.

I remember a couple of years ago asking our local institution security team about whether there were lockdown procedures should something happen similar to the shootings in education institutions in the US in our local communities. It was never believed that such a scene would ever reach our shores but now, people are having second thoughts.

Despite cancelling a much loved Pasifika event, the outpouring of love and hope in sharing this sorrow as a nation through vigils, corporate prayers, meetings in parks, candle lightings in homes, outside mosques, sharing in songs, online discussions etc. shows that so much good can come out of so much evil because in darkness even a small light can shine so much brighter...

Happy Birthday to our lil' runner...

 A very BIG happy birthday to our youngest child of whom turns 8 years old today. Here she is pictured with her very proud father, sharing a birthday breakfast which is a tradition in our family as they share a wonderful Daddy/daughter relationship being the youngest in our brood.

All our children have been gifts from God, each with their own personalities, talents and dare I say 'quirks' just like their parents :) And all of our children, somehow, didn't go through the natural progression of crawling then walking as they went from stepping to walking and missing out on the crawling phase.

So much so that with our youngest her Dad wrote a poem that was later published online (in this blog: 6 Dec 2014) called "Little Runner" as she so inspired him with her quick feet that had us running after her as well.

Her maternal grandparents also returned from Samoa to spend this special day with her and we're all looking forward to a small birthday party this Saturday that she's invited family and friends to as well.

A real blessing from God as we wish her and our children well in all their future endeavours. A special reminder that God has more love than we could ever imagine when we are gifted with children ...

Polyfest cancelled in show of solidarity against Hate crime in Christchurch...

Yesterday, was called the darkest day in NZ's history, by the Prime Minister - Jacinda Ardern) in the worst mass murders - shootings committed against Muslims, as an act of terrorism in Christchurch, New Zealand.

To date, some 49 people have been killed and still many remain in critical conditions, in Christchurch hospitals, as a result of a shooting rampage at two mosques but it also seems that the gunman, an Australian citizen, had sprayed bullets around the city before shooting his victims in the Mosques.

Many people have since been sending messages on social media, thoughts and prayers to the devastated communities of Christchurch. Others have lit candles, dropped off flowers to the various spots around the city and visited churches for prayer vigils for the victims and the friends and families.

Yesterday, during the height of the scare, schools were on lock down and mosques were too as the authorities tried to get a sense of what was happening in Christchurch while the rest of NZ and the world stood on alert as the story unravelled.

This senseless act of killing, or hate crime, has taken NZ by surprise as the first major act of terrorism of it's kind to reach the shores of NZ, in having prided itself as a haven for multi-ethnic communities and seeing such attacks happening overseas.

It's now come to light that the gunman may have taken at least two years to plan this attack and may have shared his views but wasn't on a possible terrorist watch list and probably choose NZ to make a statement of his own kind as many victims were Muslim immigrants seeking refuge from overseas situations.

As an unprecedented move and outpouring of support to those effected in the communities of Christchurch, it is believed that the organisers of the largest Pasifika festival in the world i.e. the 'Polyfest' (Polynesian cultural dance Festival) in it's 44th to date, has cancelled the festival in it's fourth and final day in paying respect to grieving families and friends of the victims.

It demonstrates solidarity in standing with the mourning communities of Christchurch against this violent act of terrorism that an individual (with probable accomplices) felt that it was their right to act out. It is with much hope and prayers that it was the first and will be the last of it's kind to ever be felt on our shores.

Although I feel for performing students, parents and schools who've put in so many hours of rehearsals and effort into each performance. It would have been inappropriate to continue on with festivities when in another part of NZ, mass funerals are being organised and families are still awaiting for the outcomes of hospital surgeries etc.

Our eldest was affected by this in now missing out on performing on the Tongan stage in her final year at high school and many youth around Auckland will now be waking up to the fact that our country is in a state of mourning and grieving for the loss of loved ones instead of celebrating our cultural diversity upon five main stages (Maori, Samoan, Cook Islands, Tongan and Niue) with 20 plus other cultural performances that won't be staged today.

It is a sad day indeed for many reasons but a sobering thought that there are people out there in our communities who harbour such evil that they would feel the right to act out such hatred on innocent people that would affect a nation. May God be with us in times like this...

Learner driver initiatives with Auckland Transport (AT) ...

Check out: https://at.govt.nz/driving-parking/road-safety/young-drivers/your-teenager-and-driving/

Yesterday, I took our middle child to a 'learner driver' education talk that was held at our local movie theatre. It's a new initiative, through Auckland transport (AT), that I've just been made aware of for teens between the years of 15 - 19 who are interested or have already started their learner driver education.

The neat thing was that I heard about the event on a Facebook Ad that linked to the Auckland Transport website that had all the information for me to take Register and take our teen to listen to an interesting talk from a guy from 'Attitude' (neat organisation that works with youth) with the added bonus of: either a free popcorn or double chocolate ice cream; an information bag and a free movie to watch.

I thoroughly enjoyed the evening and would highly recommend it to other parents/caregivers who have teens who are keen on learning to drive and need the information to either support them whilst being behind the wheel and all the different avenues out there that can provide support.

Back in the day, I had a full license at 15 years where it could all happen on a single day: i.e. the theory exam(multi-choice), eye examination, oral exam (3 questions from anywhere in the Road code) then the practical exam.

Nowadays it's very different but it's good to know that places like AA can support with 3 free practical lessons if the parent/caregiver is an AA member, which is what I will be insisting for our teens and other 2 day workshops are also offered in different suburbs of Auckland.

I've copied the link below and thank for parents for taking the time to support me those many years ago when I couldn't wait to be behind the wheel. Of course, I passed the driver ed exams and then had to wait a few more years before I passed my father's test but that's another story.

https://at.govt.nz/driving-parking/road-safety/young-drivers/your-teenager-and-driving/

Suffice to say that I wouldn't recommend you put your daughter onto the motorway when you're first teaching her to drive, at 15, in a column gear, blue and white Zephyr Mark II, as she could do worse things than to drive onto the roadside ditch...

Pasifika month with Auckland City Council...

Auckland Town Hall, the official venue for Auckland City Council meetings

Have been so busy this past few weeks that I haven't had the chance to blog as frequently as usual and last week I attended our first Auckland City Council Pacific Advisory Panel meeting, at the Auckland Town Hall meeting rooms, for the month with so much planned to happen for our Pasifika communities.

In fact, it's known as Pasifika month with many big events happening like the Polyfest (Polynesian dance festival) held at the Manukau Velodrome around mid month i.e. the largest in the world where high schools come together to compete in various Pasifika and other cultural dance competitions over a 4 day period i.e. 13 - 16 March with cups to be presented on the final day.

This year our eldest is competing in the Tongan section which is pretty good in developing dance skills in another culture. The most competitive are probably the Samoan, Tongan and Cook Islands sections as well as the Niuean but the Indian/Bollywood section has become quite popular too.

Pasifika is the other festival which will be very popular and held over the weekend of 23 - 24 March at Western Springs Park with many bands and cultural dances etc. featuring 10 villages where you can buy food, cultural items, clothing, paraphenalia etc. Our Pacific panel group has been invited to the opening and looking forward to this event as well.

There are also a lot of Auckland City Council and local board funding available for Pasifika arts groups to apply for and am at present going through funding applications in being an arts assessor for arts funding in the South Auckland area. It's so neat to see so many Pasifika groups and talent applying and being awarded arts funding to share their arts projects with the community as well as other ethnic groups and it's so neat for me to be a part of this in supporting our communities

Am also looking at launching a book this month as a part of my contribution to the Pasifika arts focus for later this month. So will keep you in touch with the developments and looking forward to blogging about what's happening in our Pasifika communities for Pasifika month.

Ia soifua ma ia manuia (goodbye and be blessed)...