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Lucky to be Adopted
Two girls from my village were just adopted from relatives in New Zealand. These girls are extremely intelligent, and I was sad to see them leave. But everyone sees opportunity overseas, and if there is a chance for someone to leave, they usually jump at it.
This is really sad to see because they leave their culture, and there is no way Auckland, is the same as Samoa. Life will be so different for these girls, especially coming from Savai’i. I experience a small culture shock when just heading to Apia, and most people in my village will rarely go to Salelologa, the bustling city of Savai’i, let alone Apia, which is about 1,000 times busier. It is a different world from our small village.
A few people came up to me telling me how lucky these girls are because of the opportunities that are now in front of them. While this is very true, with having a good education will only help their future, but they will be leaving so much behind. It is such a hard thing to leave your family and culture behind, with no idea when you will taste either one again.
No doubt there will be a culture shock of some sort, but there are over 120,000 Samoans living in NZ and most in Auckland. Samoan is the second most widely spoken language in Auckland. There are large concentrations of Samoans in South Auckland. As one of those Samoans living in Auckland, there are plenty of Samoan institutions, village and family gatherings which keeps faasamoa alive here. It won't be like Samoa, but it won't be like moving to Mongolia either hehehe.
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