WOMEN OF THE ISLANDS - SHAR TUIASOA
Shar Tuiasoa
Illustrator
Tongan
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Tell us about yourself - where you live and what inspires you in life? What do you love about being a Pacific woman in this space?
I live in Kailua, Hawai'i on the island of O'ahu. My dad comes from the village of Ha'akame, Tonga on Tongatapu. He came to Hawai'i when he was 14. I grew up in Hawai'i surrounded by Hawaiian and local culture, but I was really lucky to also be close to my Tongan family. My biggest inspiration in my art comes from Hawai'i. Of course I am inspired by the stories of all our Pasifika people, by our origins, by our ancestors, and by our nature, but Hawai'i is what I am most familiar with. I am inspired by the shapes and patterns in our Tapa/Kapa and our Tatatau/Kakau. And I am also inspired by animation and pop culture. I love watching current illustration trends and seeing how they might relate to my perspective.…more
MMA fighter Fau Vake attack: Man pleads guilty to manslaughter
Cover image photos courtesy of Willie Vake
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A man has pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Fau Vake, a rising MMA fighter who was punched in a late night attack in Auckland last year.
Liufau Vake, 25, known as Fau, died in hospital nine days after being hit late at night outside a bar on Symonds St. He was in critical care and underwent surgery to try relieve pressure on his brain.
Today in the Auckland High Court, Daniel Havili pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Fau Vake, and to assaulting Fau's brother Ika Vake, who survived. Havili's name suppression lapsed today and he can be named for the first time.
Another man, Siofilisi Paongo, pleaded guilty to assaulting Ika Vake.
Both men initially pleaded not guilty and were set to be tried in court later this year. They will now be sentenced on April 12 this year.
A total of four men were charged. Three have now pleaded guilty, and one denies his charges and will go to trial this year.…more
Ifiele'ele Plantation: Flavours of Change
Over a decade ago, Fogalepolo Lepou (Paul) and wife Joan decided to pack up and move from New Zealand to Samoa, driven by a call of duty to his mother (Su’a Siapo Suisui Faiga Ripley Lepou) and her restless dreams of making use of her family land in Fasito’o-uta, Samoa.
What started off as an exercise in honouring a parents’ wish eventually evolved into a journey of self discovery for Paul, who found himself re-connecting with his culture, family and the land. Paul and Joan built and developed the Ifiele'ele Plantation, a stunning organic farm retreat offering accommodation.
Today it is a living tribute to an inherited dream and a celebration of the inextricable bonds between family, land and traditions in Samoan culture.
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Video credit & Thank You to: World Bank Pacific and the Samoa Agriculture and Fisheries Productivity and Marketing Project
Love Letters to Tonga
After the Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapai erruption on 14 January 2022 Tonga has been on the minds and in the hearts of many around the world.
The current covid travel restrictions and islands safety measures have meant that not a lot of people are able to go to Tonga to help with relief. This coupled with continued connectivity hiccups, has lead many people to express their love for the kingdom online.
The bountiful love for Tonga is evident in the various fundraisers, resource drives and community mobilisations to get help back to the beloved islands. Along with tangible forms of ofa (love) there has been a outpour of written love online.
Through our social media pages we were able to collect anonymous Love Letters to Tonga. Since the devastating disaster we have received an enormous amount of love for Tonga in our inbox through peoples heartfelt messages.
Below are some of the messages we've received, accompanied by Images from Malau Media:
"I love you my dear homeland."
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"Tonga we are praying for you take care of yourself.…more
Recovery in Tonga has already started, Red Cross says
Cover photo above - Digicel Tonga’s technical team working on satellite link equipment to restore internet connection Photo: Digicel Tonga
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Tonga is already rebuilding amid the devastation of a double whammy of natural disasters, according to the Red Cross.
Tonga Red Cross staff and volunteers have been assisting people from the moment the tsunami alert was triggered, and are ramping up the delivery of drinking water, temporary shelters and other critical relief supplies across the country.
Tonga Red Cross secretary general Sione Taumoefolau said its teams were using boat and trucks to take vital items to communities in need of the basic necessities.
Shelter was a top priority for families whose homes had been wiped out, he said.
Meanwhile, the humanitarian response into Tonga has been described as well a handled process, almost two weeks on from the eruption and tsunami.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has been helping to meet immediate needs, with a response coordinaton based in Fiji.…more
ORDINARY TONGAN LIVES - REAL LIFE AQUAMAN (from 'ATATĀ)
Story collated and written by Haitelenisia Afemui ‘Uhila Angilau for her 'Ordinary Tongan Lives' facebook page. She is currently covering survivors stories from the Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai eruption and subsequent tsunami.
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“Since 2014, I have not been able to walk properly. I can try, but most times I have to lean on someone else to walk. On Saturday, we were doing maintenance work in preparation for my son’s wedding for this last Thursday. When my older brother saw the sea rising higher than normal, he alerted me. He knew I’d take a while so he said I should get going. He packed a few things as I left. I barely made it to the main road when my brother and nephew caught up with me, grabbed each arm, and helped me move faster. By that time, a wave from the West had made its way to the main road.
Now, the volcano is on the North Western side of our island. ʻAtatā’s map is like a tennis racquet. The wider part is where our plantations are.…more
Sports Talk - Netball star Cathrine Tuivaiti: Motherhood, Pro Netball & life overseas
"I think it should be celebrated, I think that to be able to play at the top shouldn't just be for people who have to put their families on hold, it should be supported and encouraged and if you can't come back then at least you tried, but for too long it's been "Don't have babies, because you won't be able to come back"
... ... that's not been said, it's been implied ... in the last few years we've seen so many Mums come back to netball, especially at the top level and it's really cool to see. Not that they should get pregnant early, but they don't have to put off having families if that's what they want to succeed in first"
We catch up with former Silver Fern Cathrine Tuivaiti about being a Mum of two boys, living in Italy with her husband Jimmy during the Covid-19 pandemic, making her comeback to professional sports after having two children and much more.…more
3 Lessons: First Year of Motherhood
Motherhood, Career, Family: We can have it all!
2021 is wrapping up and so is my rookie year of motherhood. As I reflect on 2021, and my first year of motherhood I find myself reminiscing on the big lessons I’ve learned this year.
Off the top of my head I can think of 20 unsolicited pieces of advice but I’ll just give you 3 for now.
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1: Independence costs
It’s a common misconception that us broke islanders all live in the same house because we can’t afford otherwise. And while living together helps lessen the load financially, it’s not the only or even the main reason we do it.
As Pasifka peoples, we are village people. We are built on the strong foundations of aiga & togetherness. We often all live together in one house because that’s just how we’re built. We quite simply aren’t built to live far from our loved ones. From the comfort of mum's kokolaisa or pahs funny jokes. Aunty’s gossiping in the lounge, cousins running around outside.…more
ORDINARY TONGAN LIVES - 'ATATĀ ISLAND TSUNAMI SURVIVOR
Story collated and written by Haitelenisia Afemui ‘Uhila Angilau for her 'Ordinary Tongan Lives' facebook page. She is currently covering survivors stories from the Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai eruption and subsequent tsunami.
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“It happened so quickly and suddenly that we were completely unprepared. We were going about our Saturday chores when I heard one grandchild from the beach, ‘Nana! There’s a wave coming all the way to our wild hibiscus tree! It’s coming Nana! It’s here!’
At first you’re confused but you quickly snap out of it and yell, ‘Run! Come, let’s run!’ We gathered all the grandkids and ran to higher ground with my children. Some of their parents are overseas for fruitpicking while I care for them. My husband was still inside the house when we ran. He later came looking for us. Talaiasi Seni’s house was our first place of refuge as it’s on elevated ground.
Many other mothers and children from the village joined us there.…more
Tonga Update & where you can donate to help relief efforts
Cover image of families on Mango Island in the Ha'apai group waiting for help after the tsunami hit and destroyed every home.
Photo credit: Piokalafi Faka’osi
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As communication with Tonga is slowly restored, the devastation to the small island nation is becoming more apparent.
So far the oficial fatality number remains at three and Digicel has been able to restore limited international voice and text connectivity via a satellite connection. US cable company SubCom has advised that the best case scenario is four weeks for the cable to be repaired, with the repair ship expected to arrive in Tonga 1 February.
The tsunami is estimated to have impacted around 1800+ household's food supply across Tonga - most affected areas have had plantations and crops completely destroyed and basic food items are needed. Flour, tinned fish, milk powder etc ... Due to the seawater seeping into the soil it's expected to take about 3 months before anything can be grown on affected areas.
The governement have also advised against fishing or consuming any fish.…more