Photos of Funeral

Yours truely doing his bit!! I have to! Untitled men dont sit down here!! After making 3 hundred sandwiches and other things it's time to move on!!
Procession to Deceased's home to be buried in front of.
My, our, The village beach, It's like heaps of shells, white sand and all belonging to the family.
Kids and wife enjoying what the village beach.

The distribution of gifts......one part
Feeding the choir.....there's more!! The best (fatest pigs, corned beef and the first givings go to the ministers...) We came last but still there was enough food!! Chech out the plastic and polysterene........?????
My Uncle, in white, the desceased and his wife Pulu just walking in front
One of the pigs and a cuzzy
Aunty Falasama (as cool as ever!) Runs in the family1

Our real Fa'a Samoa Experience (Photos coming soon...rush rush)

Well what a busy week we have been having, firstly we are legally aloud to stay in Samoa until December, we have our extension on our visitors visa, but don’t panic we won’t be here until December, we will be home in October!! The interesting thing was that Emile is our sponsor to allow us to stay hence he is deemed a citizen, which is an interesting immigration policy ha!! We are not complaining though. We have also bought a car in order to get us around a lot easier, “Have wheel will travel!” Not that we haven’t been getting around but we won’t have to rely on taxi and buses. We also got invited out to dinner by some people from church that owns a restaurant Giordano’s Pizza. We went their in our first few days on the Island, GREAT restaurant and we had a wonderful night getting to know Jill and Alex. I’ve also started helping out at a local souvenir shop that make clothes and print their own fabric in the hope that I will be able to learn some of the local skills in this area. It isn’t deemed work as such just a welcome break for the teacher and an opportunity for me to have some adult company while Emile gets some Father /Daughter time with his girls, hopefully I’ll have some wonderful gifts to bring home. So as if that wasn’t enough for our week we also got invited to a funeral at the family village, which was to take place on Wednesday however it was postponed. (would only happen in Samoa you can put off a funeral!)Anyway the funeral took place today, so we where up with the roosters and on our way in our new car to the village to prepare for the day. What an eye opener it was for me and the girls. As Emile says we won’t get a more Fa’a Samoa experience than what we have had today, so far. It is just a shame that a father of 4 and only 54 years old had to die for us to achieve this. What a privilege to be involved. We started by preparing morning tea for 300 people which consisted of sandwich making, then placing 2 muffins, 3 sandwiches and an apple (NZ of course!) into plastic food contains, similar to what we would get our Chinese takeaways in, after packing 300 of these container the body had arrived and the family gathered in the front room of the fale for their final goodbyes before the funeral service which took place at 12.00. Everyone was given their morning tea containers and they were delivered around the village to members not attending the funeral, but of significance within the village. Meanwhile other family members and groups bringing gifts of fine mats, lafo (money) and flowers arrived. The casket was carried to the church 2 doors down and the Mass began, completely in Samoan but formal Samoan that even Emile had difficulty following the service. The procession then continued up the road, to the deceased’s family home within the village, stopping the main highway around Samoa. He was laid to rest in a typical Samoan tomb in front of the family home. The procession then returned for yet another meal which was provided in polystyrene container once again all 300 disappeared. The final proceeding was the distribution of gifts to the Fai feau’ (ministers all 3) received a pig each plus tinned fish, fine mats money and corn beef. Then the next most important received gifts of food mainly boxes of tinned fish. Emile believes over 200 boxes of tined fish where given to those attending. This is all taking place in front of the deceased’s wife and children there is no food or money directly given to them and she is expected to provide for her family of 4 with no benefit or assistance. All in all it was a lot to comprehend all being carried out in Samoan but I just felt for the women and her children, deciding in Samoa it is better to stay alive!! Emile ‘under the table’ gave our gift directly to the wife, knowing that no one else will have a say over it. She beamed back knowing full well why we had done it that way. All this and this was a small funeral in Samoan terms of an untitled fisherman. But that is the Fa’a Samoan way, which a number of them complained about but it is just what is expected and it doesn’t seem like that will change in any great hurry. On the negative side those plastic and polystyrene boxes along with the possibly 500 water bottles will most likely end up in that island of rubbish floating in the Pacific, as it was while he was being buried 3 containers floated down the river beside the house and I wouldn’t even consider myself a “greeny.” As Emile said in the old days it would of all be done with natural weaved baskets. I hate to think what the final tally of the day would cost the family but it would be huge. The girls also had an opportunity to find lovely shells on our own beach which they are most excited about, we’ve travelled the island trying to find them, but the tide was out further today and they found some lovely ones. They have coped remarkably well with the entire day and gained new understanding of the Samoan way of life. What will be our next adventure???? Emile’s Bit…..It was great helping out and getting back to what I could only understand as being the only way and for many it is, even with the changing times and debates on what should and shouldn’t be, I was proud that day to be a Samoa!! I felt guilty about all the plastic waste and lack of understanding of the impact on the environment when down at the beach, but I know the day will come when It will change! I just have to pick some of it up and put it in the rubbish! To my cuzzy Pene in PNG….all my love!

Posers!!

Iv'e been told to chill out and relax!! And give my comments to the proof reader.
Our story will be on the blog soon!!

Don't forget to check out Maleina's and Leilani's Pages!! Thanks for your prayers, emails and all that jazzy stuff.

Tofa soifua for now.

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Did you know that my name Leilani means "Flowers from Heaven" in Hawaian and In Samoan it's a name of a famous Taupou. Female Chief sought of.

Nanna, GrandDad and Aunty Vivienne we Love you

It was Hot...........!!
Our last evenening dinner at the Apia Boat club. Good company and good food! what a treat!
All on the sprite and more treats to come!!
One of our last day activities with Nanna, GrandDad and Aunty Vivienne......the turtles!!
These turtles are aprox 20 minutes away from the air port heading to apia...un signed and unknown to a lot of tourists!! Leilani is thinking twice about her b'day treat swimming with Turtles. She says they have to be small! We miss you already!!

Elizabeths piece

Here goes for my 2nd piece on the blog, sorry if it repeats some of what Emile has written.
We have had a wonderful time with Mum, Dad and Vivienne over for 10 days, minus a few hiccups!! Three visits and a stay in the hospital with Talia. Thankfully it happened when we had some babysitters or I don’t know how we would have coped. Talia had been unwell for a couple of days with a sore throat, and in New Zealand it would probably just have taken its course, however come Sunday morning she awoke with a firey red rash all over her body and face. It was definitely time to seek medical assistance, no after hour’s doctors here, so you just present at the emergency department and wait. I think we got extra fast treatment either because she looked so bad or because we are palagi (white), anyway within minutes she was getting slapped on the bottom with two injections to follow, then placed on a bed with a curtain as a sheet, we then waited an hour or two, in which she seemed to be improving. We left at about lunchtime with medication and relieved to be getting out of the place, however she didn’t improve on the medication in fact her temperature seemed to increase and the rash got worse, so we returned the next day to be told they thought she had scarlet fever, but they hadn’t seen anything like it in Samoa, once again we went home to continue with the medication, yet by 7.00pm on Monday night she was worsening, so another trip back to the hospital and she was admitted to the children’s ward. On our return we discovered that nothing is provided, you have to provide bedding, plates, cups, water, juice everything, right down to the toilet paper. You would usually carry all these things with you when you present at the doctors for a routine check up aye. As someone else has since said you should also go with your disinfectant spray to clean everything before you touch it. When they showed us the bed the nurse commented we don’t want you going down to that room because we have typhoid and meningitis down there!!! The staff at the ward were actually really good, however it is just beyond comprehension what the place was like compared to what we are used to. In the meantime they had lost our file with the blood results. It is at about this time, which was 11.30pm, Emile has gone home to get supplies, that Talia and I have our crying competition as she later explained to Nana!! A plane trip home at the end of the week with Nana Grandad and Auntie Vivienne was looking extremely inviting. Thankfully the IV hydrocortisone began to work and Talia made steady progress through the night while I attempted to get comfortable to sleep on a wooden mitre long stool, finally giving up and sleeping on the floor. Emile didn’t join the other fathers sleeping outside the windows, on the ground he opted to return home to look after the others. The pedeatrian the next morning was really good and when Talia requested to go home to see Nana she obliged, but we needed to return at lunchtime for the medications, we then got discharged as the rash was continuing to improve. They are unsure as to what she has reacted to but she has continued to make steady progress and we now have our energetic, talkative, bouncy Talia back again. Praise God, although we don’t want a further visit to the hospital I would be a little more prepared if it was necessary although I think we will just go to the private hospital eventhough our insurance says you are not meant to go to the private hospitals, I’m sure in Samoa it will still be reasonably cheap compared to some countries.
Despite a rather stressful few days, we managed to pack a fair but into our days with Nana, Grandad and Viv. We swam at Paradise Beach, visited the Robert Louis Stephenson House and Museum, attended the Siva Afi competition (firedancing), Aggie Grey’s Fiafia night, Maleina and Leilani stayed a night in a Fale on the beach with Nana, Grandad and Auntie Vivienne and went snorkelling in the reef. Due Talia’s sickness we didn’t make it across to Savaii, but they did have a night in a Fale on the beach. We also saw huge Turtles. I think Leilani is having second thoughts about swimming with them for her birthday. We also managed some shopping at the market!!! Now it will be back to the school books and writing letters to all those children from room 4 who sent lovely letters to Talia and Latia. Special thanks to Gaye Kemp who sent books and treats for the girls. That is all from me for now, hope all is well with you and yours, keep praying for the Grey’s we obviously need it.

Video from Independence day. And Emiles rambles!

We have been busy having fun with Nanna, GrandDad and aunty Vivienne for the past week and .......... Talia was admitted to Hospital...after they lost her original files and blood test results, but that's another story. N,G & V only have 2 more days here so ,making the most of it!! Talia has improved but believe me, without a diagnosis!! I have lost quite a lot of respect for my culture!!!....It's absolutely unbelievible.
The kids are great and are missing home, school and friends! Elizabeth is coping well and is the strongest of us all...She jokes about not getting sick! It's nice having N, G and V here. It's been very good, it'll be sad to see them go. Sorry again we cant reply to all your emails sooner!! but we do read them all!! We will get to replying to them all!!

THEY'VE ARRIVED!

Nanna enjoying the garden at Ritas Lodge
Shade under the Cocoa tree....look closely!
1st on the right!
At Faleolo Airport. We were all pleased to see Nanna, Gran Dad and Aunty Vivienne arivving!! More pics to come in the 1st 24 hours we have accomplished a lot!