Samoan Language Champions Honoured

Samoan Language Champions Honoured

Five people who have pioneered the teaching and promotion of the Samoan language in New Zealand over the past four decades were honoured this weekend as the inaugural "Samoan Language Champions: Tautai o le gagana Samoa”. The awards are being presented by the Human Rights Commission, NZ National Commission for UNESCO and FAGASA (Fa’alāpotopotoga mo le A’oa’oina o le Gagana Sāmoa i Aotearoa), as part of Samoan Language Week 2010.

“Our Samoan Language Champions have made an outstanding contribution to the preservation and celebration of gagana Samoa in New Zealand for many years,” says Race Relations Commissioner, Joris de Bres.

“Thanks to their passion we have thousands of young people learning Samoan in language nests, schools and universities. We can hear Samoan spoken and sung on our radios and televisions, read it in newspaper, books and now on the internet.”

Judges identified a number of people who had made significant contributions in a wide range of sectors and said making the final decisions was not easy. This year’s focus is on those who have worked in education. Champions from early childhood, primary, secondary, tertiary and community education were selected.

The awards were presented to some of the recipients this weekend at the 21st Anniversary Celebrations for Samoan Studies at Victoria University in Wellington.

Samoan is the third most widely spoken language in New Zealand and Samoan New Zealanders make up nearly half of the country’s Pacific Island population.

Early childhood: Fereni Pepe Ete (Wellington)

Fereni Pepe Ete established New Zealand’s first aoga amata – Samoan language nest – in the suburb of Newtown in 1985. She has worked with generations of Samoan youngsters for the past 35 years, through her roles as an educator and wife of well known EFKS church minister, Reverend Risatisone Ete. A mother of 13 children – six of them adopted – Ete arrived with her young family from Samoa in the early seventies. She graduated from Wellington College of Education and from Victoria University with a degree in education. Mrs Ete taught at the Ridgeway School in Mornington and then went on to work at the Newtown Library. Mrs Ete founded the first Aoga Fa’afaiaoga O Aoga Amata (Training for Samoan and Tokelauan Early Childhood teachers) in 1987 and now heads the early childhood programme at the Pacific Training Institute in Wellington. Chair of the executive committee for Samoan Capital Radio, Mrs Ete also ran the programme for Samoan Woman. Past students from her church Sunday school and aoga amata recall her staunchness when it came to speaking Samoan: and how they would switch from English to Samoan whenever they saw her coming.

Primary education: Janice Taouma (Auckland)

Jan Taouma is a founding member of A’oga Fa’aSamoa Incorporated, which was set up in 1984 as the first Pasifika/Samoan Early Childhood Centre. She has managed Ao’ga Fa’aSamoa for the past 24-years. Mrs Taouma was part of a group who instigated the A’oga Fa’aSamoa move to Richmond Road Primary School in 1987 so youngsters could transition into the school’s bilingual unit. A respected academic, Mrs Taouma has also led government research into Pasifika education. She has served 18 years as a member of a National Council for Te Tari Puna Ora/NZCA, where Pasifika expertise has helped develop the National Diploma in Early Childhood Education Pasifika.

Secondary education: Toesulu Brown ONZM (Auckland)

Toesulu Brown is the national president of Pacific Nations Educators Association and NZ Childcare Association Board member, and long time teacher and guidance counsellor at Auckland Girls Grammar. Mrs Toesulu Brown was honoured with a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her important contribution to Pacific Island communities in Auckland. Mrs Brown has been teaching at schools in Auckland since the seventies and has had a long-standing involvement in organising the world’s largest Polynesian school festival. Outside of schooling, Mrs Brown is a passionate advocate for the cultural importance of teaching the Samoan language in New Zealand and former President of both FAGASA Inc and a national women’s group PACIFICA Inc. She has been involved with early childhood education, in particular the NZ Childcare Association. Her work on the National Diploma in Teaching ECE Pasifika and her support for lecturers and students is of immense value to the Association.

Tertiary education: Galumalemana Alfred Hunkin (Wellington)

Galumalemana Alfred Hunkin (MNZM) established Samoan Studies at Victoria University 21 years ago. The university was the first in the world to offer a BA in Faasamoa or Samoan Studies. A respected academic, educator, author and composer, Mr Hunkin was also the inaugural director of the Wellington Multicultural Educational Resource Centre. He arrived in New Zealand 46 years ago to study at Wanganui Boys College and went on to university study. He wrote Gagana Samoa: A Samoan Language Coursebook – the main text used by Samoan language tertiary students around the world. Mr Hunkin helped set up Samoan Capital Radio and also co-founded the Association of Samoan Language Teachers, FAGASA, 19 years ago. Now the national president of FAGASA , he also established Samoan Studies at Victoria University 21 years ago. Anniversary celebrations are under way this weekend at the university.

Community education: Tofaeono Tanuvasa Tavale (Auckland)

Afioga Tofaeono Tanuvasa Tavale is bestowed with eight matai titles and of high standing in the Samoan and Catholic community. Mr Tavale has a long association with Pasifika Education Centre Trust (PEC) as a Samoan language tutor and author of numerous books published of PEC on Samoan language and culture. He has 46 years of experience in teaching at all levels and is an expert in the teaching of the Samoan language. Mr Tavale was president of the FAGASA Association (Faalapotopotoga e a'oa'oina le gagana Samoa ma le aganu'u i Aukilani) in Auckland and is the current president of the Auckland Samoan Catholic Community.

ENDS

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