Masina | Papatoetoe
“Maybe two days ago in the takeaways, a takeaway or the bakery shop just there, because what happened is, I walked in, she looks like her hair’s maybe pink. Not pink. A little bit, yeah, dark pink, but to me, she looked, that’s an odd colour for a lady. So, I went and bought myself a donut and then I sat down and talked to her.
So, anyway I just introduced myself and the next minute she just carried on and started talking about how she’s going out visiting friends, family, church, work, you know, and she goes to the gym. She goes to church. She goes everywhere, and her point was to actually meet people. So, communication was, a bit of communication there, but I managed to actually know what she was trying to tell me, and as far as our conversation, I think she’s from Fiji, but maybe kind of Muslim look. Yeah, because the way her hair colour, told me a wrong story, but when she talked I realised that she’s actually an islander. She’s from Fiji, yeah. So, that was two days ago.
Sometimes as part of my work, it’s also good to get to know people and their background and you kind of initiate the conversation just to know this person, but to me, the reason why it’s important is there are, around here there are a lot of people that are actually, they find it hard to talk to people, to other people, but the moment you initiate the conversation and talk to them, they just let all these bottling things they have inside them, and I just sit and listen. Maybe because I’m a Christian, and part of it is to actually try and help young children, youth, mainly to, in ways to prepare for their future, I see myself as a facilitator, to try and encourage young ones to prepare themselves.
So, that’s why I always love to just go and talk to somebody new and let that person talk, and then I just kind of give them my bit of advice, even though I’m not a qualified person. That’s how I see myself, just trying to help them, from my own experience, from how I raised my family. I’m a mother of three, and I raised very successful boys, so to me I think, and because New Zealand has helped me a lot, especially my children, they are doing really now well, school education as well as occupation. So, now I’m kind of like, hey I’ve got something to pass on to, to these people here, too.
I was born and raised in Samoa. I left when I was 16, mainly because my sister gave birth to my little niece and my little nephew, and she brought them over for my parents to look after. When they were like five years, four years old, come to New Zealand for school, you know, kindy and they got homesick. So, that’s when they also helped, my parents, me to come over, because we raise together with my niece and my nephew, and that’s how I came.
I’m in New Zealand more than 30 years now. I think I’m married for 30 years, so I’m looking at 35 years since I am in New Zealand. I’m actually Samoan born and raised in Samoa, and I did a bit of school in Samoa up to Year 10, and then from Year 11 up to tertiary level, even though I don’t have a degree, yeah.”
