Bringing Moemoana to Ōtepoti

We are recovering from a busy and  exciting couple of weeks for our Penina o le Moana community.

Thanks to you support last week we had the honour of hosting Moemoana Schwenke, former Miss Pacific Islands and former Miss Samoa. Her welcome at the airport was super special for our Penina o le Moana girls who even got to join in on her first siva Samoa with our community here in Dunedin.

Thank you to our community elders Taupaū Sauleone & Epe Mata’afa, and a special thank you to our mana whenua Kiringāua Cassidy along with all our families who joined us at the Dunedin Airport to officially welcome Moemoana to our beautiful little city.

Thank you to all who came along to our fiafia showcase night this week and for those who found out about our campaign through our showcase booklet. This year's showcase focused on the women of the mau and the history behind Sāmoa's journey to becoming independent. The production of practice sticks for our workshop from within our community to showcase the cultural knowledge around them also extends to other providers for our program. In these pictures, you can see our uniforms modelled on the women from the mau crafted here in
Ōtepoti with fabric sourced from one of our amazing supporters Island Fresh. We are so grateful for the support from all of our community through this campaign and beyond!