The early 2000s were a difficult time for my family. In the space of 4 years, 6 of my close relatives died. Our first loss was my 46-year-old first cousin. His sudden, cardiac event widowed his wife and left his 4 young-adult children without a dad. My own father was...
SASA. That was the first Samoan word that came to mind when asked the question, “What is your favorite Samoan word?” ATUA, was the second. Shouldn’t I have thought of GOD first? Apparently, I need to be disciplined first, to understand the importance of God in my...
First and foremost, let’s define what a “heartache” is: An emotion so mind blowing and heart-shattering that you just wanna walk into the ocean and keep walking till your lungs cease to work. Are we straight on what a heartache is now? We’re not talking about your 3...
My name is Munro Te Whata and I’m an Illustrator/Animator based in Auckland, New Zealand. I want to explore why I love telling authentic stories about our history, our culture and our people with animation I’m an inner-city kid born and raised Auckland Central so I...
My son Caleb is nearly 13 years old. Since his diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder at the age of 4, our family has been privileged to grow and learn with him as he deals with everyday living. Caleb has Global Developmental Delay & Severe Language Disorder which...
“Dementia isn't a specific disease. Instead, dementia describes a group of symptoms affecting memory, thinking and social abilities severely enough to interfere with daily functioning” ~ Mayo Clinic I’m not a licensed professional or certified caregiver for Dementia...
A little bit about me I come from a pretty big family. I have 8 siblings however we weren’t all raised together. Only a few were raised by my parents, the others were raised by other family members. I was fortunate enough to be raised by my Nan & Pops; my mother’s...
Uso! (or Uce!) Toko! Siana! All terms we use - from different islands in the Pacific - to refer to our brothers. Our buds. Our ride-or-die boyeeeez. All good. But if you want to use the Samoan word uso correctly, especially if you're speaking with people (like your...
I'm a firm supporter of public transport - yay for saving the ozone layer and gas money! lol - and yesterday, when I got on the bus for my hour-and-a-bit-long commute home, I spotted a little, elderly couple huddled together in their seats, half way down the aisle. As...
I lost my camera. It happened maybe two years ago, around the time my house was broken into... twice, even, in less than 3 months (bloody South Auckland street kids). The thing is, I didn't even notice it was gone until a few weeks later. Or maybe I did notice, but...