Vaka Tautua celebrates Samoa Language Week and Independence Day
Vaka Tautua’s Auckland team at the Mt Albert Hub
As a proudly Pacific organisation, Vaka Tautua recognises the importance of Pacific languages and cultures to the work we do in the community. To promote language as a cornerstone of the wellbeing of Pacific peoples, our teams celebrated Le Vaiaso o le Gagana Samoa (Samoa Language Week) and 60 years of independence for the nation.
Staff of Vaka Tautua Canterbury met with Jolt Dance, a group that celebrates the mana and creativity of people with intellectual disabilities. They enjoyed meeting the class, which includes several Pacific students, and dancing and singing to Samoan music together. Team Canterbury also brought in Samoan objects to display in the office, then talked about the uses of one or two items each day.
Faye Seumanutafa, Vaka Tautua’s Senior Community Connector in Wellington, was honoured to attend the Samoan High Commission’s event celebrating 60 years of Samoa’s independence from New Zealand. She said, “Last night’s Independence celebrations were awesome. The Samoan High Commissioner, Leasi Papali'i Tommy Scanlan, gave his opening address after the lotu, and Minister Aupito William Sio gave a speech on Zoom from Fiji. It was so nice to hear Minister Carmel Sepuloni deliver her speech in Samoan too.”
Vaka Tautua’s Auckland teams opened the week with the Samoan National Anthem, lotu (prayer) and pese (song), then closed the celebrations with a to’ona’i – a shared lunch with traditional Samoan food. At our Mt Albert Hub, the Ola Fiafia Mental Health team treated service users to lessons on siva (dance) and making ula lole (lolly necklaces), used in Samoa and Aotearoa to celebrate special achievements.
The theme for Le Vaiaso o le Gagana Samoa in 2022 is ‘Fa'aauau le folauga i le va'a o tautai’ – ‘Continue the voyage with competent wayfinders of the ocean’. Our teams have demonstrated once again that they are excellent navigators, steering Vaka Tautua on a voyage of serving our Pacific communities.
