Coco Talanoa — Pacific Blog / Page 17

By Florence Syme-Buchanan 

A root crop planting programme in Aitutaki started ten months ago by Amuri/Ureia MP Terepai Maoate is providing staples for the entire island that’s been in lockdown since March.

Originally the planting was to produce enough root crops for the 2021 bicentennial celebrations of the arrival of Christianity to the island.

“With what has happened the world over and the island in indefinite lockdown, no revenue from tourism for an unknown time, the plantations have proven a God-send for our island at this time,” says Maoate.

By Molilaauifoga’a Seanoa

Schools are shut, most shops are closed, and smoke from the umu wafts over our village. No, it’s not a typical Sunday in Samoa. It’s a a typical Tuesday on the first week of the State of Emergency Lockdown. That was 6 weeks ago. SOE rules have relaxed a little since then, but as a mum of 5 young children—taking care of an extended family household of 10 people—I’m not taking any unnecessary risks.

Today our country’s borders remain shut. Schools are still closed. Markets and shops have restricted opening hours and outside of our bubbles, we cannot congregate in groups of more than five people. That means no mass gatherings which is difficult when you consider that we are largely a church-going nation. On a normal Sunday—pre-lockdown—our household would wake up before the crack of dawn to attend morning mass. Now, we worship from home and only go to church to receive Holy Communion—our parish allowing one family bubble at a time to enter. God is not closed today!

My daughters love dressing up.…more

By Jake Fitisemanu Jnr.

There was once a taupou named Vītaliutaolepaepae(1), the daughter of orator chief ‘Ulu(2) who lived in Puipa‘a village, Faleata district, ‘Upolu island. Vī was renowned throughout the islands for her beauty -- especially her wavy, brown hair -- of which she was extremely proud and boastful. Her pretty friends (also the daughters of chiefs) were just as conceited and self-centered, and they relentlessly teased all the other girls in the village. 

After years of hearing the villagers complain about his daughterʻs bullying, chief ʻUlu had had enough of her childish ways. He told Vī that it was time to grow up, and that she had one year(3) to choose a husband to settle down with. Vī hoped that if she made the selection criteria stringent enough, that no man would be eligible, and she could stay single and carefree forever(4).…more

Name:  Saunima’a  Josephine Samuelu

Villages:  Falefa, Apia, Papa Sataua.

Profession:  Registered Nurse working in Auckland New Zealand.

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Where are you currently situated?

Auckland.  My job in the COVID-19 Crisis is a COVID-19 Nurse Responder stationed to work at the Community Based Assessment Clinics (CBAC) to test people for COVID-19.  I’m part of the team of Alliance Health Plus Nurse Responders to work at the CBAC testing stations across Auckland.

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Describe what you do on the daily?

Every nurse is allocated to a CBAC team.  There are currently 6 CBAC testing stations across Auckland.  I’ve worked at the CBAC Panmure and now stationed at the CBAC Northshore, 3 Akoranga Road.  The CBAC Northshore testing station is accessible for people who live in Auckland central, West and Northshore areas.

Before we start our day, we have a team briefing led by the team Operations Coordinator who is a nurse.  The briefing involves a prayer, allocated tasks (so that everyone is clear about what they’re doing i.e.…more

By Catherine Tuivaiti 

Former Silver Fern Cat (Latu) Tuivaiti is living in lockdown in Italy and writes about what is happening from this country in the eye of the Covid19 storm: 

I came to Italy after the birth of my first son, to join my husband Jimmy.  Sebastian (or Bash as we call him) was 7 weeks old when we left NZ and we were excited to start a pretty new journey. Me as a first time mum and my husband and I living together after 5 years pursuing our sporting journeys in different countries. Learning to live together was what I thought would be the hardest part.

The coronavirus landed in Italy shortly after we did. The first positive case was January 31st and it has progressed ridiculously fast since then.  We were quarantined/shutdown in Feb because we’re so close to Milan (where the breakout happened) they closed most businesses and schools etc. and then when the lockdown was implemented, they closed everything.  So before the nationwide lockdown we were already in quarantine for a week or so.…more

By Dahlia Malaeulu

As an important part of everyday life, social development and conversational routine, we have all been raised to greet others. On the surface, greetings are ice breakers, mini introductions and conversation starters that usually sets the tone for the dialogue that follows.

Greetings also have another important layer of meaning.

When we greet each other, we in fact acknowledge and welcome another person’s presence. Our Polynesian greetings carry this same deeper meaning in a very holistic way - where we not only acknowledge others’ existence, their being and spirit, but also openly share parts of ourselves and who we are.

For instance, former governor of American Samoa, the Honourable Togiola Tulafono, explained that Tālofa is short for, 'Si o ta alofa atu,' which means, 'I am happy and delighted to give you my love’.

‘Alofa’ or love is at the core of ‘Tālofa’, which is also the official greeting and welcome of Tuvalu and can be found in the Tokelauan greeting of ‘Talofa ni’ as well as ‘Aloha’ in Hawaii.…more

By Dahlia Malaeulu 

This article was originally published in E-Tangata and is republished on Coconet with permission

Dahlia Malaeulu is a Wellington mother and teacher, and the author of Mila’s My Gagana Series, a set of Sāmoan language books for children.

These days, she’s also a proud New Zealand-born Sāmoan, but it wasn’t always so. Despite growing up in a household with Sāmoan-speaking parents who’d been born and bred in Sāmoa, she has spent much of her life struggling with her identity and trying to figure out what being Sāmoan really means.

Here she writes about the long, hard road to becoming Sāmoan.

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‘What’s your iwi?’

My first encounter with my cultural identity was around 30 years ago at primary school in Wainuiomata, Wellington. During a lesson about where we came from, one of my teachers asked me: “What’s your iwi?”

I remember going home and asking my mum. She gave me a shocked look, and giggled. Then she told me that I had no iwi and that it was “only for Maoris”.

I retreated to my bedroom, stumped.…more

Samoa’s measles crisis is a “wake up call for the world,” because it has set a precedent for all countries to follow the example set by the Samoa Government, says the Director of the Israel Center for Disaster Medicine and Humanitarian Response, Professor Elhanan Bar-On.

Professor Bar-on with close to three decades experience in Humanitarian and Emergency Response is urging all Samoan residents to support the Government’s Mass Vaccination Campaign. “Your Government’s decision for compulsory vaccination is an example for the World to follow,” he complimented. “It is the right decision.”  

He says that the epidemic is a lesson to the world on the impact of the anti-vaccination movement. “Anti-vaccination movements exists in every country and they have no shame in the consequences of their campaign,” he said.…more

Judge Clark Waddoups has ruled in favour of three American Samoan plaintiffs, that they should be included in the US Constitution's grant of birthright citizenship stating that American Samoans are US citizens and should be issued new passports reflecting that.

Although American Samoa is a US territory, American Samoans have to date been deemed non-citizen nationals.

The ruling occurred in a district court in Utah, where a group of American Samoans living in the state had filed a lawsuit.

They argued that they should be considered US citizens under the 14th Amendment, which grants citizenship to anyone born in the US.

The Constitution's grant of birthright citizenship applied to anyone born in a US state or territory.

"This court is not imposing 'citizenship by judicial fiat.' The action is required by the mandate of the Fourteenth Amendment as construed and applied by Supreme Court precedent," wrote Judge Clark Waddoups in the US District Court for the District of Utah.

"Further, Plaintiffs are American Samoans.…more

By Sapati Apa 

The walk to the frontline at Ihumatao is a cold and windy one, the air is heavy and I can barely get a proper breath in as I put one gumboot in front of the other. It’s ten minutes past 1:00am, and I’ve volunteered for a frontline shift that starts after midnight, and finishes just as the sun rises at 7. 

In all honesty, I don’t want to be here. I’d rather be anywhere else than trekking through the muddy grounds, wearing five jackets and still being unable to feel my toes. I’m not a bush girl.…more