Monday, December 2, 2013

Where are the turtles?

Photo by: gardenofeden
While the world is lamenting about sports and the consistent disappointed resulting from men kicking a lopsided ball around, yes I feel your pain and I lament along with you, there are many more urgent matters that need our attention.  Matters that are very close to home and those that can very well affect the health of rugby in the future.

Last week on Friday, while I was sitting in the MNRE conference room, listening to brilliant lawyers explaining the foundation to the 'Trade in endangered species Bill 2013".  I reminisced about my younger days at St Mary's Savalalo, the delight of seeing a real life turtle for the first time.  This consultation provided an overview of a new Bill aiming to protect and conserve Samoa's endangered fauna and flora.  They also provided an overview of the Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

There are many things to fear in this world and more so for the unknown.  One of them is not having trees or animals around, we need them as much as they need us.  When was the last time you saw a mother turtle giving birth in/on the sands of our beaches?  I vaguely remember such a sight when I was a child, walking along the beach at Mulivai Safata. Have you seen a flying fox sucking on fruits high up in the tree? I did in front of my grandma's house, hanging from her soursop tree and also many times at the market, feeding on fruits as some people kept them as pets.  Have you seen dolphins in family groups guiding the ferry to Savaii? I did happily many times on the way to the big island before the nausea settled in.  Have you had the pleasure of collecting so many sand dollars you didn't have enough space for them in your pockets/buckets? I have when we used to go to the beach on Sunday, before there were sea walls and resorts.  Have you seen hundreds of fish swimming, playing around and beneath you before they go off and do other fishy things? I have at the back of the old Savalalo market where the fish market is currently located.

These are rarely experienced by our young people these days.  They have to go on their expensive phones to download an app that look like fish swimming and turtles flying in all their glory. Some of our native birds, animals and plant species are either endangered, vulnerable, critically endangered and nearing extinction.  This is not specific to Samoa, it's a global experience.  With greed and money comes more greed and money.  People ignore that small voice in their heads when it comes to poaching, exploiting, shipping, killing and selling anything and everything in exchange for a few dollars for a few beers.

The first creature that came to mind during this discussion was the gentle, slow moving, quiet turtle.  We also have the manumea and the Samoan flying fox (Pteropus samoensis).  The pe'a  is a CITES-listed species that is endangered by subsistence hunting and by commercial hunting for markets in the western Pacific (Brautigam and Elmqvist 1990).  Other species include Samoan wood rail (Pareudiastes pacificus) that are endangered, exploited and probably close to extinction. The Australian gray duck (Anas supercilliosia), purple swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio samoensis), many-colored fruit-dove (Ptilinopus perousii perousii), Samoan ground-dove (Gallicolumba stairi stairi), ma’o (Gymnomyza samoensis), and island thrush (Turdus poliocephalus samoensis) are all endangered or threatened (Merlin and Juvik 1983). 

Some of these species are endangered due to habitat loss and commercial hunting. While this has nothing to do with rugby, it has everything to do with health.  If we keep turning a blind eye, soon enough, more of the species that live among us will die off expanding the List of endagenered, and critically endagnered species and contracting the life experiences list.  

The next generation will keep downloading applications to know what a flying fox looks like.  The MNRE Bill has included words such as 'endangered, threatened, exploited species'.  One can apply for an export or import permit with conditions.  There are provisions to ensure the safety and protection of species coming to and going out of Samoa.  Like all other Bills, Acts, Regulations, it may look excellent on paper but if the implementation falls short of being implemented then MNRE's hard work and brilliant minds will go to waste.  Truthfully, I saw two very large turtle shells being sold on the side of the street on my way back from the airport the week before.  We may hope for the best and draft a great legislation with nice words used by academics but if we fail to deliver this to our own people, more turtle shells and bat brains will be lining the street.  

Next time we buy handicrafts, ask where they are from...think twice whether we are willing to be participants in killing off our own endangered, native species. We need them as much as they need us.  It will be a sad day when we take our children to Aquatic centres and they are empty, no turtles, sharks, dolphins, star fish or any of those squishy, fishy sometimes slimy creatures to enjoy.  If we are heartbroken, losing sleep, appetite and the will to watch rugby tv anymore because of our Manu Samoa then we should definitely lose something over ignoring the world around us.

Each species on our planet plays a role in the healthy functioning of natural ecosystems, on which humans depend. - William H. Schlesinger .

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Germany comes to Samoa

On a bright, full-house, pro-grandpa funeral Sunday, we just finished church and were getting ready to partake in the biggest meal of the week, when a car pulled up in front of our house. Out came a tall strawberry blonde woman, another blond man and my relative Rudy.Nauer. They chatted lightly with some of my uncles and aunts that were outside.

Usually, when we have visitors, they either come for the farm or  a talk with my papa.  I ran upstairs to change into toonai gear and grabbed a pen and paper.  During this time I overheard the relatives talking about our German family, how they came to Samoa, my grandpa Norman who had just been laid to rest and sleeping in the ground.  Quickly, I grabbed my camera because if my ears weren't fooling me, this was an opportunity not to be missed.  I had real-life German cousins coming to find us!

I came outside and introduced myself. This was the first time I introduced myself as my great-grand mothers child, usually we say our parents' names.  Kathrin Stalder, my third cousin was new to Samoa, who just happened to be on a family finding odyssey with her husband and had written out our family tree on a piece of paper.  

They were warm and excited.  My first question was : How did you find us? What made you get off your couch and come all the way to Samoa? She found us through the TV thank you note, that we sent out to thank all those who attended grandpa's funeral.  When they heard 'Nauer' on TV, they quickly switched on and went to find the Nauers.  They found Rudy and then Rudy brought them to us. I chuckled to myself and thought 
'This grandfather of mine is some kind of funny, he dies and then gets his family to come ask about him'. 
It was a walk down memory lane, talking about him and his brothers, his late mother Louisa.Pereira.Nauer to his niece and nephew from Germany.  Kathrin decided that it was her mission to find her family in Samoa and saw the need to establish a bond with us because we came from Nauers and we still have a lot of family back in Germany that want to know us.

Like any inquisitive person, I wanted to know if they were indeed family.  Kathrin's grandmother is my grandfather's first cousin. Our great-grand parents were siblings. She has family who are also named Adolf, Louisa,Hermine, Conrad,all good old traditional German names that go way back into our family history. We were all excited as my cousin Richard tried to do the same when he was playing rugby in the UK.  On his big Euro trip, he went to Germany, swam in the river and tried to find his Nauer side, too bad there was no thank you note on the TV to guide him to them. 

I was sad to discover that the girls were sent back to Germany because of the war and the boys stayed behind (Samoa) to preserve the family name? I don't know, whether their parents were wise in sending back the girls, I'm not sure. We had family that were in concentration camps and died during the holocaust.  The greatgrand uncles that were send out married women from different nationalities and alas, we are all fruit salads!

Family is not just an important thing in the Samoan culture, they are everything.  Whatever we do and wherever we are, if anyone in our family comes across a mishap or tragedy, there is an unbreakable bond that makes our eyes water.  There is an invisible rope that tightens around our hearts at the thought of them.  When they are excited, we laugh alongside them, when they cry we lament with them. 




From left-right: Peter, Kathrin Stalder (cousin), Conrad,Donna, Maria, Rosita,Cassandra , Richard, Enid (me), Rudy Nauer.


My family tree on paper


 Thank you Kathrin for coming to seek us out, we do hope we will have a great family get together in Germany in the near future. 

In dwelling, live close to the ground. In thinking, keep to the simple. In conflict, be fair and generous. In governing, don't try to control. In work, do what you enjoy. In family life, be completely present.

Lao Tzu


Sunday, November 24, 2013

WHY WE EAT PISUPO!

From Tupea's polynesian market


When I was attending university in New Zealand, I stumbled across a poetry workshop on my way to one of the lecture halls.  There were a couple of students in the queue so I joined the line because I'd never been to a poetry workshop.  The theater was not so packed and when the curtain was raised, I saw a fair skinned, big boned, long haired woman probably in her early 20s. Her voice was a crisp whisper in the air, drawing in her audience and she spoke with a melody inked with her ancestors' voices. 

This was the first time I heard poetry expressed and performed by the author, herself.  It was poetry in its pure form, raw, true and most importantly in the poet's own voice. Her voice controlled the mood and produced the stage effect she wanted.  She performed about twenty or so poems but one I remember to this day. Actually two.  The first poem was about a dog(s) named Bingo.  In this stanza she speaks of her Samoan family's numerous dogs, different shapes and colours all having the same name. Bingo. The second poem I remember, was probably the most memorable about pisupo and why Samoans love to eat it.

It began with the poet, standing in the middle of the stage with a single spotlight on her:
She had the following props:
A chair
A machete
A 6lb pisupo (corned beef)

Slowly and deliberately she made us watch while she took out her machete.  A small gasp went through the crowd when she swayed it from side to side.  Her Samoan hips swayed from side to side while imitating the action.  Then she took the large can of pisupo (corned beef) and used the machete to open it.  If you've never used a knife instead of a palagi can opener to open a canned pisupo, then you need to re-visit your grandmother's house.   It is an art all Samoan girls and boys must learn to master before learning how to cook a palagi rice inside a palagi oven.

The rest of the poem was blurred but the lines that were most memorable and drew the most reaction from the audience included these:

"Do you know why Samoans love corned beef?
Because it's the one thing that tastes closest to human flesh!"

When the people around me heard this, they quickly turned their heads towards the only brown person among them, me,  for confirmation.  My first reaction :laughter, my second reaction, a nod.  Truthfully, Samoans love corned beef because it's food, it's beef, it comes in a can and it's PISUPO! No one ever stopped to think about what it resembled! Whether it tastes like human flesh (I don't know because obviously we are not cannibals any more) or not, people's reasons for eating pisupo cannot be studied under a microscope.  Rather, it is a collective WE when it comes to anything eatable. Food is a universal language we all speak, ok maybe not universal, a Pacific language none the less.

The poetry show was eye-opening, uncomfortable at times because she spoke about gluttony, sexual abuse, dog problem, cannibalism in pisupo form and other issues that are presently sensitive in our culture.  To this day, I don't recall the poet's name but boy she was memorable.

I enjoyed it, it stirred up other issues that we hardly talk about. Issues such as feminism, sex, church leaders' abuse of power and using the bible as leverage to live a comfortable life while our people try to make ends meet on a minimum wage, working several jobs leaving their children to fend for themselves or leaving them with friends or relatives. Issues that are important.

As we start the week, (Monday!) I dare you to think of reasons why we do the things we do, including the reasons why we eat the food we eat and think the thoughts in our heads. Most of the times, the reasons are tradition! We eat because our parents ate and so it is a habit that transfers from them to us.  I eat pisupo because my parents introduced me to it and it goes beautifully with taro! The thought of human flesh never crosses my mind when I eat pisupo but one does wonder about the taste of human flesh and who created pisupo in the first place! Why do we eat pisupo??

Thursday, November 21, 2013

You coconut, me coconut, us coconut!

 As the clock strikes 4 and I'm about to fall asleep on my desk, shuffling through some beauty tips that I will never use because I don't wear makeup (only on special occasions and when I have time for some mascara) or blow dry my hair, or have blonde curls that need moisturizer every few hours, something odd strikes me, I am kokonut oil! Yes, like most Pacific girls who have chores, jobs, family obligation, who are too busy  sometimes that we wonder if we've brush our teeth or not, I feel sorry for all the women in the world spending thousands of dollars on beauty products each year. Ohh the insanity!

There is one and ONLY one common beauty product that our great grandmothers, grandmothers, mothers, aunts have used since the beginning of infinity. COCONUT OIL.  We put it on our faces, hair, body and currently in our food, drinks etc.  This was our best kept secret until it was no longer a secret.  One day, a brilliant woman woke up from her slumber and decided to introduce the non-Pasifikans to our secret, COCONUT OIL.Coconut oil being used by celebrities like Miranda Kerr, Gisele Bundchen, Angelina Jolie, Jennifer Anniston and others  have boosted the demand for coconut oil worldwide.  Whether women of the world are sucked in by the incredible marketing or affiliating the use of virgin coconut oil for their own skin with beauty, or both, this band wagon is full and more people are jumping on board.    .  Soon enough, they will come calling, asking, begging for more coconut oil.  They have discovered our secret and now want it for themselves.  For their skin, faces, lips, hips and so forth.  I am a coconut filled with coconut thoughts today.
 
Our virgin coconut oil has more than a hundred uses, and it's been flowing through our veins since the beginning of time.  The tree of life has been good to us, sheltering and protecting us.  Before the white man colonised us, coconuts was our faithful friend.  We used the trees to build houses, for clothing, utensils, medicine, tools and more uses than I can think of.

With so many companies asking for coconut oil, I wonder, how on earth will we be able to supply their demands continuously? We currently supply oil in large quantities because let's face it, Samoa has some of the best organic oil in the world.  Since these companies have increased the demand for coconut ant its by-products and with climate change, yes climate change ripples, our coconuts keep  falling over, maturing and dying. With Cyclone Evan, rushing and kicking over our coconuts at the beginning of this year, Samoa is slowly  recovering agriculturally and coconut-wise.

Is it wrong to sell our kokonuts for some paper-bag sealed nuts? No.  Nevertheless, it is a concern if everyone who didn't care about coconuts before suddenly steal from their neighbour because the cost has gone up.  In the past, you could find 20 coconuts for $5 or less, now the best deal you get is 6 for $5!Calculate the difference? This is because more demand, low supply, high cost: the basis of economics.  Coconuts are exported overseas, more and more people sell to companies instead of the local market. They get more money and soon enough our traditionals foods that are made magically from coconut cream (pe'epe'e) will dwindle and cease to exist.  Can you imagine our oka without real pe'epe'e? Our fa'alifu, palusami, vaisu, vaisalo, koko alaisa, faiai fe'e, pa'a (anything crawling/swimming in the sea) without our magic coconut cream ingredient? Ohhh the abomination!

While it's great that subsistence and semi-commercial farmers are earning money from the coconuts, I just hope that they are also growing more plants.  Coconut palms are grown in more than 80 countries of the world, with a total production of 61 million tonnes per year. The are very hard to establish in dry climates, and cannot grow there without frequent irrigation; in drought conditions (Wikipedia, 2013). They are also prone to diseases and it takes a while for them to mature.  Given the proper care and growing conditions, coconut palms produce their first fruit in 6 to 10 years, but takes 15 to 20 years to reach peak production(Leon,2013). That is a substantial amount of time to wait around for coconuts to be falling from the trees.

Our tree of life may cease to exist we keep giving it away.  If coconut oil is to be used in numerous products including filling up our car tanks, in beauty products,  this beautiful resource will no longer be found freely in our backyards. When the Middle East oil wells dry up, who will the world turn to next? Our coconuts may be the next source of renewable, cleaner, more affordable fuel.  Imagine the powerhouses sitting on the table with our future PM discussing ways to grow ONLY coconuts on our whole islands.  Imagine...

So my fellow coconuts, next time you enjoy a nice cold niu, think of the future. Think of our children and their children, will they ever taste what we've tasted? The beatiful, clear, clean, healthy taste of coconuti? 
An intriguing view of some coconuts hanging from a tree.
www.todaysphoto.org, 2013

I leave you now with a lovely, simple poem by Michael Flores Caasi


ODE TO MY COCONUT TREE
How beautiful to stare and to see,
Those palm ribs of my favorite coconut tree;
Where trunk is towering up and high.
Like birds soaring high in sky.
The fruits may be hard outside
but there's a clear and soft heart inside,
The juice within can make me strong
And make my joyful life so long.
My tree is always proud to stand
Where roots are tightly holding grounds;
At night when stars and moon are bright,
My tree smiles in perfect sight.
O dear O lovely coconut tree
Be still today, thanks for inspiring me.


Other interesting reads:
Mailelani Products
Samoa stories of families making a living from coconut oil
Body Shop Coconuts from Samoa
It is profitable (DME)
New Life with coconut life
Solomon Is "Coconut Technology Centre"
101 uses for coconut oil (Mama,2013) more benefits of coconut oil 
BODY SHOP products made from Samoa's very own Virgin Oil








Monday, November 18, 2013

PROTECT US!

The farm girl
My niece Arabella is three years old. She is beautiful and not because she's my niece, she is very beautiful.  A true afakasi, with a palagi father and a fruit salad mother (my sister). Fruit salad meaning Samoan, Chinese, German and Tokelauean blood running through her/our veins. She is a very smart child, learning to talk before she was 11 months old  and could speak proper sentences by the time she was 14 months. She can roll out paragraphs and whole shelves of books now! As my second and youngest niece, (my oldest niece is Josephine) I look at her beautiful face and hope the best for her. I'd protect her with every fiber of my being and let no harm come to her.  I hope that's how every mother feel about their child especially their daughters.  Just as we protect everything dear to us, our rose gardens, our own skins we too should do the same for our daughters.

When my niece is being naughty and her nana disciplines her, as soon as I walk through the door, I hear 'Auntyyyyyyyy Eniiiid, can I go to your house please" she pleads.  Sweetly, saying this endearment when she wants something, because she knows I will not deny her.  Immediately, guessing from the plea she has been naughty and she wants to run away from her nana. She's intelligent and knows very well that if she misbehaves, nana will restrict her privileges such as watching too much tv, eating too much sweets or playing with ipad, Dora the explorer, going outside to torture the cat. She also knows that if she comes to my house, she has several chances of blowing out candles, pretending it's her birthday, the slight chance of eating ice-cream, very big chance of touching my jewelery and taking a necklace, ring, bracelet goodie bag when she returns to nana's house. She is a collector of my many things and also a loser of all them.

Arabella brings joy to my life, she says random things that make me smile and when she's being smart, I am reminded of her mother when she was young.  Samoa news this past week saddens and disgusts me.  One committed suicide, one was banished from her village for having sex, one was the victim of abuse,rape and worse they are all female. I think of Arabella and what I would do if anyone abducts, beats her to the pulp, rapes, films then uploads that video of her on the internet for the world to see. I'd wish for every war, earthquake, famine, evil thing to fall onto that person, for the world to turn over and for him to fall from it into oblivion onto a bed of knives.  For him to feel the agony, the hatred, the vengeful spirit of every woman that has been the victim of abuse, sexual violence and hate crimes.  For his blood to paint the streets of Apia and for his head to stand on a rotting rod for all to see, for his body to be torn apart by dogs and every sharp object that exists on this Earth.  I'd also wish that through all of these, he is conscious to feel every ounce of pain, when the female race is done with him, we can turn him over to God so he can skin him alive, turn him inside out and use every old testament punishment  to inflict pain upon him, slowly and surely.  Even Satan's last days in the lake of fire will not compare to this person's pain when God is done with him.

Almost every week a man stands in court accused and convicted of similar crimes, raping, assaulting, molesting, abusing a woman.  Almost every week more men stand in court to provide answers for  molesting, raping their own biological daughters and nieces, some as young as 18 months!  It brings to light the sort of danger that is lurking behind the scenes in paradise, our home, our Samoa. It reveals how evil and vile the world has become, not just any world, within our homes, our villages, our churches, our communities, our nation! How can we ever feel safe when the people we are to trust, brought us into this world, whose loins we come from turn around and commit these acts against us? How does a daughter run away from her father while he demands this of her? How does she confess to her mother and how does that mother behave? How does a toddler who barely speaks asks for help? Shame!Shame!Shame!How can we let this go on behind our doors?

These acts of violence have become so rampant, it's almost becoming a norm in our culture.  People are not surprised any more when they hear of yet another girl falling victim to rape. It's like we have become accustomed to men raping, hitting, killing us! When did this become acceptable in our society?  How many more girls are to be raped by their own brothers, fathers,uncles, grandfathers, neighbours, friends before we do something about it?   How did these men become monsters? How did society allow them to travel down these paths that have removed their respect for women and the love for themselves.  If they can't love themselves then how can they respect and love others.How many more children under the age of 5 should be torn apart by evil men and perhaps killed before Samoa wakes up! Does it take a nation? A community? A group? It takes just one.  

We ought to teach our daughters how to protect themselves. When I was reading Jason's article "Strength of a woman", I remember one woman whose mission was to protect me.  When I was seven, mother dearest and I went to her usual Friday night bingo.  On our way to my grandpa's house to drop off another gambler (relative), we saw a car parked on the side of the road with 3 men and one young woman squished in the middle.  It was about 1 am, it must have been some warning sign going off in mum's head because when we passed the car she stopped and reversed.  She rolled the window down, and asked these men who they were and what they were doing with the young woman, who looked very scared.  At a second glance, 2 guys were on her right side and one on her left, they forced her to sit in the middle.  She looked about 18 with tears streaming down her face, her hair was disheveled and her lipstick stained on the side of her mouth.  

Mum repeatedly asked the men who they were and demanded to see their faces.  The girl must have said something to her, I couldn't hear because I was on the other side.  Mum, reversed a little more and blocked the car that was trying to move.  She threatened the three men, she told them that if they did not let the girl come with us, she had friends down the road whom she can call.  She also added that she knew policemen in very high places and they will chase them down.  She concluded that she had seen  and memorized all their faces and they should be very scared.  Three men against one woman, my mother.  I don't know how she did it, but the men eventually let the girl go. As soon as she got in the car, she bursted into tears and told mum she was being held by the three men and they told her she will never see her family again.  The seven year old me did not really understand what was happening, I just knew that something very dangerous was happening to this poor girl and that it was not good.

Mum dropped off the relative and we took this sobbing stranger to our home.  Mum asked her a few questions about her family and how she came to be in that car.  She was shaking, crying and trying to talk.  She said she went out with a few cousins and they left her at Mt Vaea Club, then one of the guys approached her who was her cousin's friend.  He told her that her cousin was waiting outside and they ought to go with him and the rest led to her being held against her will. Mother dearest saved this young woman from what would have been a terrible ending.  I hope she learned a good lesson and is living a happy life. From that day forward my parents taught all their daughters these:


  1. NEVER EVER EVER get into someone else's car even if it was my uncle's
  2. Do not talk to strangers who might come to pick us up from school 
  3. Never go anywhere without their permission including leaving the house to ride a bike (we had male workers who work on the farm)
  4. If we step foot outside or near the worker's house, we will die! (well not die but something similar)
  5. We were not allowed to sleep over at any of our friends' houses
  6. Never walk alone -anywhere
  7. Do not take anything from people we don't know when they offer
  8. If any man/boy approaches us and say perverted things, we must tell my papa 
  9. Always get my older sister to go with us if we want to go to the bathroom
  10. NEVER EVER EVER go anywhere with ANYONE we don't know
There were many more restrictions but these are the ones that ring true to this day.  I wrote about forgiveness not too long ago and again I ask, how can we forgive such evil acts? Rape is about holding power over someone else but it doesn't stop there.Soraya Chemaly wrote about 50 rape facts but those do not truly cover and discuss the extent of rape. Rape is just one evil but there are numerous evils that lead up to rape. These men are cowards! They choose to prey on women, children because they are cowards.  How can we prevent men from turning into monsters? How do we know the signs? How can we better protect ourselves?

Please Samoa wake up before it's too late! Protect us. Parents should teach their children how to protect themselves from an early age. I thank my parents for holding us in their hands, for laying down the rules and ensured that we follow them. I thank my papa for his militant ways because if he wasn't strtict,where would we be. I have five sisters, so you can imagine the white hairs we've put on our papa's head throughout the years.  I thank my mother for teaching us how to stand up, speak out, tell someone if we are ever in danger or put in an uncomfortable position. I thank her for her fighting spirit, her strength and for teaching us how to protect ourselves.  I cry for the child that cannot speak, for the teenager who thinks they are strong enough to rebel against their parents wishes, I cry for the woman whose husband beats her and keeps silent.  I cry for the men who are monsters, who repeat their foul acts, mostly I cry for Samoa, for being silent all these years, for turning a blind eye and for ignoring the monstrosity that is within ourselves. I cry for change and I cry for those innocent victims whose lives will be forever changed!

African woman


Help me see

the truth

life or death

for you


Woman of Africa

Africa kills men

of no hope

Children of the future

are scorned by killing

and raping of women

and the land

and sorrow

that will not rest

That I cannot find


Help me find peace

Not just a UN word

Or promises of life and love

that do not exist

But exist I do


Do you know

What it is like

to walk alone

in a world of disease and shame


To the woman who bore me

Me the bastard of lust and AIDS

Four letter words

That seek revenge

for my lusting mother

The woman of Africa


Pasifika Arts & Literary Series
Published by : Massey University

Copyright ©2009 Juliet Enid Westerlund

I have bloody time before the baby comes!

WOW, I haven't touched this blog in...6 years has been a long time and have I done much in that time? Let's recap: 1. Got marrie...