Teine Samoa

Description

Teine Samoa means Samoan girl. It's a label that carries with it an unspoken duty to obey, serve and respect your family and Samoan culture. But who can be teine Samoa? When should you be teine Samoa? And how can you be teine Samoa outside of Samoa? Lani is an afakasi, and is unsure of her Samoan heritage and what being Samoan even means. But one thing she knows for sure is that she's afraid of Vai and the 'Real Samoans'. Masina, the free-spirited daughter of a Church Minister, is bound by parental expectations and struggling to fulfill the destiny set by her parents. Teuila is the good Islander girl and proud teine Samoa who realises she doesn't want to be a 'switcher' anymore. How will these junior high school students learn to be, understand and fulfill their obligations as Teine Samoa, living in New Zealand? Teine Samoa is a journey of cultural identity and discovery for four junior high school students, their families, their teachers and, most importantly, anyone who has ever faced the challenges of being a teine Samoa. Teine Samoa was originally written and published as an ebook during the New Zealand lockdown in May 2020. The story follows the journey of cultural identity and discovery for four junior high school students, their families and their teachers and, most importantly, anyone who has ever faced the challenges of being a teine Samoa. The paperback edition of Teine includes the original Teine Samoa story, study questions for students and the Teine Samoa Project, a space created for teine Samoa to share their real life stories.

Dahlia Malaeulu is a New Zealand-born Samoan, with her father Malo Gray originating from the village of Sinamoga and her mother Lagi Gray (nee Saletele) from the village of Vaivase tai. Dahlia is married to Mani Malaeulu and is the proud mother of two young boys, Mason and Isaia. Dahlia is a passionate educator at heart, and in 2019 she released the first books of the 'Mila's My Gagana' series, a set of early Samoan language readers (Malia Shares, Lagi Spies and Mase's Room) for pre-school and junior-primary-aged children. The series is a rich literacy resource for all children, families and educators in order to support and develop the learning of basic Gagana Samoa (the Samoan language). Ultimately, Dahlia would love to enable tamaiti to confidently and proudly succeed as Pasifika. This is why she would love to see endless options of accessible quality Pasifika stories and resources that reflect our Pasifika values, languages, cultures and most importantly - our tamaiti.