What has whānau taught you?

Tee | Tāmaki Makaurau

Tavai’s  parents moved to Aotearoa from Sāmoa to give him and his brother more opportunities.

“So like, they just came here with the mission to start a new family in a better environment. Not saying that back in the islands it’s not a good environment, but in terms of schooling and work, there were more opportunities here in New Zealand. So yeah, that was a big sacrifice my parents made—leaving their parents and families just to come here and find work.

For me, it’s just grateful. If they never did that, I probably wouldn’t even be here right now. So yeah, that’s something I’ll live for for the rest of my life, and I’m truly grateful for that. Once that realization kicked in, the mission has always been to give back to my parents.

I’m still fortunate enough to have both my parents still alive, but yeah, till the day they die, I’ll continue to take care of them. I still look back at how it was when I was younger, seeing my parents work two jobs. My mom had to take me and my brother to work sometimes. She would just work her shift, and we’d sleep in the lunchroom and wait for her to finish.

It was around the time transitioning to high school that I started realising the big sacrifices they made. Once that realisation kicked in, the mission has always been to give back to my parents. I’m so fortunate to have both my parents still alive, and I’ll continue to take care of them until that day.”