The strength of South Canterbury’s Samoan community was highlighted last week with a variety of cultural performances.
For the first time in three years Multicultural Aoraki held its Samoan Language Week coffee group in conjunction with several South Canterbury primary schools.
This year’s theme was ‘‘Ia malu lou sā, folau i lagimā’’ (a well-grounded self, is a successful self).
The event was hosted at the Waimataitai School hall, and featured two hours of performances from six primary schools and several community groups.
Multicultural Aoraki events co-ordinator Maturo Siaosi said the Samoan community in South Canterbury had come a long way since he first arrived in the area.
‘‘This community is really important. I came here as a young kid, 27 years back, and there were only a few Samoan families.
‘‘[Today] all the schools have Samoan kids in them. It’s so good to keep that going; the Samoan culture, the language and it’s good to see lots of parents and friends getting involved.
‘‘It’s really great for the community, and for self-development. I think it’s a positive note for Samoan Language Week.’’
Samoan groups around Timaru also have weekly meetings and events to make connections and keep their culture and language alive.
These include the Samoan Society’s language workshops on a Monday and a coffee group on a Wednesday.
It was more important than ever for culture and language to be preserved, he said.
‘‘I found with a couple of families that moved from Samoa, none of the kids now speak Samoan, they all speak English.
‘‘The message we want to push out to all the Samoans, or even any islander, is just to make sure you keep your culture and your language.
‘‘Don’t lose all that stuff, because it’s really important in life.’’
He said he was pleased that Timaru was so supportive of and willing to learn about Samoan and Pasifika culture.
‘‘It was a successful event, and it was really good. We had to make it small last year because we ran out of funding but we could do it this year with the help of Waimataitai.
‘‘A couple of the principals have already talked to me about next year.’’ — Nick Monaco is the Courier’s Gateway Programme student.
