Happy Tuvalu Language Week!
This week we celebrate Tuvalu Language Week in New Zealand.
Providing a week of celebrations through music, song, dance, food, crafts and language, there will be events happening right across the country.
For more info on what's on, check out the Ministry website or Facebook page.
You can also familiarise yourself with Tuvalu language and culture right here
And some key phrases of the Tuvaluan Language to get you started:
Tuvalu Language Week is promoted by Auckland Tuvalu Community Trust with support from the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs, community members and other organisations.
Last Saint star Beulah Koale gets Best Actor nod at first foreign outing
One of our favourite Kiwi films from last year The Last Saint, an independently financed New Zealand Feature film. The Last Saint, which spawned those famous words uttered by actor Calvin Tuteao “Ponsonby’s gone to the dogs” has started rolling out in international territories with its star, Beulah Koale, winning a Best Actor award at its first festival.
The Last Saint received its international premiere at the Harlem International Film Festival in New York where Koale’s performance in the gritty story of Auckland’s underworld received the Best Actor accolade
Last Saint director, Rene Naufahu said, ”Beulah is one of the most courageous young men I’ve ever met- and he uses this courage to maximum effect in his performance of Minka.…more
Te Vaka's new album 'Amataga' Out Now!
In Loving Memory of Papali'i Pita Ulitau Taouma
We would like to pay tribute to a Great man, a Pioneer, a Leader, a Father, a Mentor, a Musician, a Husband and more...
Papali'i Dr. Pita Ulitau Taouma
Papali’i Dr. Pita Taouma is the head of the Malietoa Pouesi family in Aotearoa/Niu Sila. He is most well-known as a dentist who served our community for many years, first in Samoa as the head of dentistry at the hospital in Matautu, Apia and then for many years as a dentist here in Aukilani.
Papali’i was first sent to Niu Sila to take up a scholarship at Whangarei Boys High School at the age of 14. He spent these years schooling while also traveling to Aukilani during holidays to spend time with family, mostly in and around the Ponsonby area.
Papali’i then went to Otago University to study dentistry – a profession which ran in the family as his father Tofa Fesula’i Taouma Leteletaneolevao was also one of a group of seven dentists originally trained in the craft in Samoa.…more
Hayne hits the streets of Adelaide!
Is it a bird?
Is it a plane?
Is it a Flying Fijian?!
NO!
ITS THE HAYNE TRAIN....?!
Youtube Comedy Duo The Royal Stampede impersonate Aussie NFL player - Jarryd Hayne, hitting up the public with the NFL skills of the former NRL superstar in this hilarious clip!
Kiribati community vows to fight refugee deportation
A Kiribati community leader in New Zealand was at Parliament yesterday begging the government not to deport a family who argue they are climate change refugees.
(Reverend Iosefa Suamalie, pictured above with Ioane Teitiota's wife, Angua Erika, have pleaded to keep Mr Teitota in New Zealand.)
About 70 people poured into a public meeting in West Auckland on Monday night in support of Ioane Teitiota his wife Angua Erika, and their three children.
Mr Teitiota has been fighting against deportation back to Kiribati since 2011, arguing he should be considered a refugee based on climate change, and rising sea levels.
He's been told he's booked on a flight out of New Zealand on Wednesday.
The crowd was sombre yet hopeful about the family's future. One of the people there, John Corcoran, has been a key witness in legal proceedings. Mr Corcoran says the family's outlook is grim, with many Kiribati families already struggling to survive on the island.…more
Victor Rodger: Let's get real on Diversity
We’re streets ahead of the rest of the world when it comes to diversity on screen and stage, writes the award-winning playwright Victor Rodger. But that’s not where it counts the most.
Diversity. It’s really just a euphemism that some cultural spin-doctor fabricated so people had an alternative to saying “not white”. That’s what people really mean when they use the term diversity. They’re talking about people who are not white, or not straight, or not in possession of a penis.
Manueli to deliver the official match ball at the opening match of Rugby World Cup 2015
Watch the moment Manueli discovers that he has won the opportunity to deliver the official match ball at the opening match of Rugby World Cup 2015, England v Fiji.
Beulah Koale gets Best Actor
Congratulations to Beulah Koale who has been awarded Best Actor at the 'Harlem International Film Festival' for his epic role as Minka in NZ Film 'The Last Saint' (2014)
Minka is a teenage Polynesian boy living in the heart of the city. With his P-addicted mother well on the way to going completely off the rails, three people enter his life - each with a promise - each with the power to destroy. Directed & Written by Rene Naufahu, check out an exclusive interview with Rene.
Beulah Koale is on stage with his latest project 'The Events'
Check out more films at the Harlem International Film Festival
Students win global awards
Two young Samoans have been invited to New York to claim the prestigious awards they have won in the Voices of Future Generations International Children’s books series competition.
Winning the awards means that the students were invited to receive their awards in person and to attend the Children’s Summit at United Nations Headquarters in New York on Sunday.
However, they will not be making the trip because they were not given enough time to prepare and raise funds for it.
But not being there doesn’t mean that Lupe and Alexia will not celebrate their achievements from afar. With the support of their parents, the students will go with plan B, using online technology on Skype to participate in the event.…more