HUMANS OF THE ISLANDS - DAHLIA MALAEULU
Dahlia Malaeulu
Author and Educator
Samoan
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I am Samoan, born in Wellington, Aotearoa, New Zealand. I have connections to the villages of Sinamoga and Vaivase tai in Samoa through my parents Malo and Lagi Gray. I was raised and currently live in Wainuiomata, the biggest suburb in the Hutt Valley with a heart to match. Happily married to Mani Malaeulu, my favourite job in the world is being the proud mother of our two young boys, Mason and Isaia. I am a passionate educator at heart, which is at the centre of everything I do. I currently teach part-time, facilitate professional development workshops for schools and early childhood centres as well as author online articles and Pasifika children’s books.
What were the pathways that led you to what you are doing now?
I had great teachers growing up and always wanted to teach. A classroom and senior teacher at Wainuiomata Intermediate School for 12 years, I loved enabling tamaiti to confidently and proudly succeed as Pasifika. Throughout my teaching career I also enjoyed mentoring and developing other educators, which is what led to me providing culturally responsive workshops for teaching staff and schools.
My role as an author though was initiated by my own children and the lack of engaging stories that reflected my tamaiti, their gagana (Samoan language) and their cultural needs as tama Samoa born in Aotearoa. So I wrote Mila’s My Gagana Series 1 – a set of early gagana readers and my amazing friend and fellow educator, Darcy Solia, jumped on board to be my illustrator.
My personal experiences as a Samoan growing up in Aotearoa and professional experiences as an educator and facilitator play a major role in my writing. I really enjoy sharing the lessons I’ve learnt in order to help develop other’s cultural confidence.
You are the author of Mila's My Gagana Series and have a new release coming out on the 10th of October called Teine Samoa. Could you please tell us about both your My Gagana Series and your new book?
In 2019 we released Mila’s My Gagana Series 1, which included 3 early Samoan language readers (Lagi spies, Mase’s Room and Malia Shares) aimed at pre-school and junior primary school tamaiti. They promote and support the learning of gagana Samoa by providing accessible tusi faitau that engage our tamaiti, fanau and faiā`oga in a fun and interactive way.
Our aim was to create a rich literacy resource that reflects our tamaiti, develops gagana confidence and encourages the use of gagana amongst the first teachers in the lives of our tamaiti. This is why they were purposely designed and written for everyone, Samoan and non-Samoan. Since Mila’s My Gagana Series 1 were launched we’ve been overwhelmed with positive feedback and support. It all just confirmed what we thought all along – that there is a real need and hunger for books that reflect us, our tamaiti and our stories. This is why we have plans to release Mila’s My Gagana Series 2 in 2021 with more to follow annually.
Our most recent book is Teine Samoa, a MG/YA fiction story originally written during the lockdown in May and released as an ebook for Samoan language week 2020. The story follows the journey of cultural identity and discovery of four junior high school students, their families and their teachers and, most importantly, anyone who has ever faced the challenges of being a teine Samoa.
It was inspired by the overwhelming response to an article I wrote last year, (‘Don’t you want to be Samoan?’), about my own teine Samoa journey. The article touched on many issues we, Samoans born outside of Samoa, have experienced like - feeling not Samoan enough, or that being Samoan was not good enough, developing dual identities to cope and needing to be supported, included and accepted as Samoan.
The paperback edition of Teine Samoa is now launching 10th October 2020. It not only includes the original Teine Samoa story first published as an ebook, but also study questions for students so that it can be easily integrated into intermediate/Middle School and High School Literacy programmes.
The final section of the paperback is the Teine Samoa Project. A space where real life experiences and lessons are shared by 14 contributing authors, 7 students and 7 educators of all ages, whose stories really show the diverse needs across not only teine Samoa but also tagata Samoa and the Samoan diaspora.
All the different elements of the paperback edition of Teine Samoa make it quite a special and unique book that I am so proud and excited about sharing with the world, because it really will be a first of its kind in the world. Teine Samoa the paperback, is about being us as tagata Samoa being seen, heard and valued. It encourages us to reflect on why we are, in order to better know and support each other with, who we are. It promotes cultural confidence and understanding for our Samoan and non-Pasifika tamaiti and families as well as the importance of cultural responsive practices for our educators and schools.
What have been some of your most challenging and some of your most rewarding moments getting your Gagana series and this book out and published?
The first challenge I came across was the attitudes towards our stories and the need or purpose for them. Early on there were people who said there was no audience for our books and one person even told me to my face that islanders don’t even go to libraries, further hinting and insinuating throughout the conversation that we islanders don’t read books and just don’t read full stop. This just made me even more determined to create books for us and our tamaiti, especially as it automatically became a question of where are we in the world? If we are not in the stories they grow up reading, then where can our tamaiti see themselves and feel that the outside world values who they are?
So this became my mission. Firstly, developing cultural confidence within our own community to better support each other, value our own voices and share our stories. Secondly, to develop the understanding of those outside of our community so they can be more culturally responsive to Pasifika peoples so that we could be valued in all the worlds we live in.
Another challenge was having to learn about a whole new industry and even accepting that I was in fact an author. I think because I never grew up reading books written by Pasifika authors, I thought you had to be palagi and know flash words to be an author.
But I now know that anyone can be an author and I’m very grateful to some amazing and very experienced Pasifika authors/editors/publishers that have helped me on this author journey so far. Also my background in education has taught me the importance of forever being a learner which has really helped me to problem solve and navigate the author and publishing world, which I’m still learning about!
A big personal challenge that I faced this year was the loss of my mother which can still be difficult at times. I’m blessed to have amazing friends and family who have been supporting me and it is through my work that I really feel connected to my mum. Last year she had told me how proud she was of the work I was doing, trying to develop my own and others cultural understanding to help our tamaiti and our people, which gives me extra motivation with the work I am doing.
The feedback from students, parents and educators has probably been the greatest reward and makes the work I do really worthwhile. I’ve visited early learning centres, schools and completed student writing workshops and it’s been amazing to share the insights I have as an author and now publisher. I’ve had a student tell me that she never knew there were islander women authors, another excitedly showed me her book of stories that she didn’t realise could become a book until she heard my story and one boy hugged me proudly saying that he’s Samoan too.
Parents have thanked me for creating books that represent us and our tamaiti that have helped them to interact, engage in conversations about identity and even reconnect with our culture alongside their own children. Teachers have appreciated having safe and engaging resources that have developed their cultural confidence and understanding of who we are as Samoan, with many saying they wished they had our books when they were growing up.
What is the best piece of advice you've been given?
I’ve actually got a whole book of advice and quotes that I have noted down over the years, so here are a few of my favourites:
From my experiences and different conversations as a Pasifika author:
- There should be nothing for us or about us tagata Pasifika, without us, and that our stories and our voices matter – something I now try to share through the stories I write.
Growing up the best advice from my mother: - Talk straight not in circles and follow through to get things done - this really sums up my work ethic.
Growing up the best advice from my father: - ‘O le ala i le pule o le tautua’, become a leader through serving others – what I aspire to do through my books and the work I do with students, teachers and schools.
My husband, Mani, owns his own leadership and vocational training business and coaches people for a living. He’s my biggest supporter and has shared some amazing advice on life with me over the years, here are a few of my favourites:
- People who are best for you, are the people who want to see you at your best, so surround yourself with the right people.
- Just let go and go with the flow because everything happens for a reason.
- Always have an attitude of gratitude.
How important is it to bring a Pasifika perspective to what you do?
Being Samoan, part of the beautiful Pasifika group of peoples, is who I am. And what I have learnt on my own personal identity and professional journey is that our cultures are an asset and what makes us all uniquely special. And when we proudly share and show the world who we are, we automatically encourage and give others permission to do the same, something that I want to model for my boys. So that they will not have to face the same challenges I did of not knowing when or when not to be Samoan. There shouldn’t be a choice and I want them to know that they can and should proudly be and succeed as tama Samoa in all the worlds they live.
I have also learnt that there are so many diverse experiences, perspectives and voices we have as tagata Samoa. Making it even more important that as tagata Samoa, as Pasifika, we realise that the world needs ALL our stories, and that only we can see the world the way we do. So we should be the ones to tell our stories.
What do you love about being a Samoan woman today?
Being raised by a strong Samoan woman like my mum and aunts, I think I’ve always wanted to follow in their footsteps of leading by doing. I’m a natural multitasker and I love how we can be nurturers, problem solvers and lead from behind or at the front, in our homes and in the workplace. I’ve always viewed women as being able to be anything and do everything at the same time.
And I’m in absolute awe of brave, beautiful and strong Samoan women who help to build up and support other women, something that I want to do because we are definitely stronger together. This is why I consider myself very lucky to be in a space to promote and share my learnings to help others and to show what is possible for future generations to come. So they can forge ahead to create new and exciting paths for our people and themselves, as proud teine and tama Samoa.
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Purchase Teine Samoa Paperback: https://www.lagi.co.nz/products/teine-samoa
Purchase Mila’s My Gagana Series 1: https://www.lagi.co.nz/products/dahliabookset
Facebook: @MilasBooks
Instagram: @milasdm
Twitter: @DahliaMalaeulu
Blog: https://milasdm.wordpress.com/
Email: milasbks@gmail.com