Today our small Samoan Group got to perform in front of our staff gathered from our Manaiakalani cluster. It was important to acknowledge and celebrate the language week as Samoan is one of the three most widely spoken languages in New Zealand behind English and Te Reo Maori.
Our group is a diverse group with a mix of Samoan, Tongans, Cook Islanders, Burmese and European and many of these students were excited to see some of the teachers that had once taught them in their primary school days.
This year, their head tutor Alby Tuuga-Stevenson wanted them to be involved in as many school wide and community wide opportunities as they could. He understood that being part of the group was not just about dancing but learning and nurturing the values like respect and service that come with the Samoan way of life or fa'a Samoa. Some of these students are entrenched in their Samoan culture at home and in church, which is enhanced when they are part of the group but for many, being in our Samoan group is their only connections to understanding who they are and where are they from. It is only right that we provide an avenue to make those connections and to connect them with their identities. They may not know their language but their language knows them.
Fa'afetai Manaiakalani for allowing them the opportunity to perform.
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