Tag Archives: Education

Samoan-American

Posted on by
10

Undoubtedly, many of our kids who are born and raised outside of Samoa face a real dilemma. 

On the one hand, they have it easy.  Real easy in a lot of ways. After all, Samoan kids growing up in America (like mine for example) enjoy the kind of life that those who are growing up in Samoa can only dream of.  Many of our kids have no clue about the hardships that the kids in Samoa face, that we faced when we were growing up.  Some would say that our American born kids have it made and in a lot of ways, that sentiment would be absolutely correct.

Yet, in many other ways, they also have it a lot harder than those of us who grew up or are growing up in Samoa.  Our kids are expected to walk a fine line between who they are as Americans and who we expect them to be as Samoans.  Those of us who grew up in Samoa  never had to face such a dilemma.  Samoa and Samoan culture was all we knew so we weren’t torn between two conflcting and competing cultures. 

Speaking as a parent, I expect my sons to take pride in the fact that they are Americans.  Because they are Americans, I expect them to contribute to their community and to their country, to be grateful that they are citizens of this great country.  I also expect them to take advantage of every opportunity that is here for them.   I tell them that there is no reason why they can’t be whatever it is that they dream of becoming when they grow up.  I fully believe that as their mother and I think I’ve drilled that into them enough times for them to believe it too.  This dream, the American dream, is one of the best things about America and one of the things that I love about it the most.

However, I also expect my sons to not be so American that they forget that they are also Samoan.  I expect them to embrace and rejoice in the fact that they are citizens of this great country but I also expect them to remember and live their Samoan culture.  Is this practical?  Is it asking too much?  I suppose what I really want is for my sons to take the best from both.  This sounds so easy to me but I know that to a teenager, that fine line isn’t always so obvious, it isn’t so apparent in their minds. 

I think that sometimes this identity struggle is a lot harder on our youth than we imagine.  Perhaps, this struggle and the confusion that comes with it is one of the reasons why some of our youth make the poor choices that they make.  They see and hear one thing at home yet the world outside as they know it is completely different.  How can we as parents, as a Samoan community help them?

Pride and Acceptance

Posted on by
4

Yes, the whole question of white vs. black (and all other shades in between) is still alive and well. Do I experience it? Absolutely! Maybe not every day but enough so that it’s something that you need to deal with. Its enough of a concern so that when we found out where we were moving I emailed some contacts and friends (from graduate school days) I had in the area and asked about the diversity of the city. My high schooler and I went to the open house at his school just before school started and the first thing he noticed was that he was the only brown kid there. Not technically true, since I’ve seen one other brown kid there but you get the picture.

So how do I deal with it? By acknowledging that it does exist, accepting it, and dealing with it as it comes up. Sometimes I think I deal with it well, sometimes I totally lose my cool, but most times I think I handle it okay. Of course, like every other parent, I’m sure we all wish that our kids didn’t have to deal with this garbage but unfortunately our country is a long long way from there. So we deal with it as best we can – we teach our kids to be proud of who they are, that they come from a noble heritage, that they are every bit as smart and capable as the next kid whatever color they are. I also tell them that if they ever come across it, say a kid that thinks they are better than them to not waste their time with them because they do not deserve their time and friendship.

Will we ever get to the point where we are really and truly color blind? I doubt it at least not in my lifetime – what a pity! Why am I bringing this up now? Because I sometimes just get really fed up with narrow minded people who think that just because they are a certain color they are better and more deserving than someone else. O taimi fa’apea e vave lava le oso mai ole tiapolo. Ia ae ku’u ai pea ia, lava pea le onosa’i aua e maimau lava le kaimi i vale fa’apea, aea. Well, I really don’t want to generalize as its not everyone but that 20% who feel that way and look down their noses at others because they are different is a large enough number to bother me a whole lot.

To be completely honest and fair we do it too, don’t we?  People from Tutuila have their snide remarks about people from the “moku” and then people from Upolu think that they are better than their cousins from Savaii.  Yeah, we may think its all in good fun,  we’re just joking around, but are we really?  Deep down, don’t we feel just a little superior just because we happened to be born somewhere?  Aren’t we secretly glad that we weren’t born there?  Is that our one claim to fame?  Where we were born?  If that is the case I feel sorry for you sister or you brother.  If you’re going to feel that you are better than someone else, at least feel that way because of something that you have accomplished, something that you’ve earned.  You had nothing at all to do with where you were born, just the luck of the draw.  Oh, and the thing that really makes me laugh is that the people who make fun of their fellow Samoans from the “moku” or from “Savaii” have at least a parent or a grandparent from that island.  Isn’t that a hoot? 

Didn’t someone write a song about this?  Tiama’a, Malia and Alapati? It was an old time Samoan group but I can’t think of the name right now.   Anyway, why can’t we all just get along (ha, ha).  Now I sound like a cheap commerical.  Perhaps, there is no hope for our generation, but we can teach our kids.   We can do what we can so that the next generation can do a better job of accepting people instead of judging them based on color, birth country, or anything else.

Teach our Children

Posted on by
8

I don’t know about you but once in awhile I do a search online for any noteworthy mention of Samoa and/or Samoans.   I like to read about how well Samoans are doing in their field, whatever that may be.  I feel a surge of pride in our Samoan people when I read about any Samoan who has accomplished alot in whatever they’re doing.   When I read about our young people who are doing well I feel like sending a huge shoutout and a fa’amalo to them and their families.  It doesn’t matter to me whose daughter or son it is, if they are Samoan I feel a pride in them as if they were my own. 

As a Samoan community we need to be known more for the good things that we do rather than the bad.   Too often we are in the public eye for stupid things that some of our Samoan people might do.  Too often a Samoan is in the news for something really bad.   When such things happen I feel really sad because I know that its another blow to our image as a Samoan people that we really didn’t need.  Of course we all know that our people do a lot more good than bad, that many more of our Samoan people serve their communities proudly and tirelessly but it seems as if the media is there only when one of us falls flat on his or her face.

As a community we need to do more to encourage our young people in their education.  Talk to them about making college a priority in their lives.  Talk to them about setting goals and working hard to achieve them.  I know that one of the reasons we came to this country is to provide a better life for our kids.   A good education is one way to get that good life.   The way I look at it is – I didn’t bring my family here to this land of opportunities so that my kids can work at minimum wage jobs for the rest of their lives.  We need to teach our children to reach higher, to dream bigger, and to go farther.

I know that we sometimes have to deal with stereotypes and ignorance on the part of other people that we come across.  I’ve come across it on many occasions.  When people I meet find out that I’m Samoan I can almost see the wheels in their minds turning and judging me by a stereotype of what they think a Samoan should be.  I enjoy proving their stereotypes wrong.    

As a Samoan woman I am proud of my heritage and take it personally when one or two bad apples give us a bad name.   On the other hand I feel like literally jumping up and down for joy when I read or hear about a Samoan that has done well.  E taunu’u ai le alagaupu fa’a Samoa, “ua fia Falealili fua” because even though I may not know them personally I am just as proud of their accomplishments as if I did.

The Good Life

Posted on by
1

Today marked the anniversary of another year of my life.   As I reflect on my life thus far I have to say that for a girl from a small Samoan village who grew up with very limited means (relatively speaking) I’ve done okay.  I don’t mean to say that in a boastful way.  Rather, it is with a grateful heart that I say it.  Grateful because I know that I got here through the sacrifices of other people, mostly my parents.  Grateful because I know that I got here because of the values that I learned while growing up in Samoa.   Values such as hard work and perseverance.  Values such as a belief in myself.  Values such as a love for education.  Values such as love for family.  Values such as sharing what little we have with our aiga.  These and many others I learned growing up in Samoa.

 I’m sure most of us that grew up in Samoa can remember many occasions where we were sent to take a plate of food, an umu, to the neighboring families.   The extraordinary thing about this gesture is the fact that giving that plate of food to the neighbor probably means that your whole family now has to share even less of your dinner.  I remember being sent to give a plate of pork sausages for our neighbor.  I knew my mother had only fixed two  packages of sosisi to begin with so that was about 12 sausages.  I was now on my way with 4 of those sausages.  I think I salivated over those sausages all the way to the neighbor’s house and being more than a little mad that we had to share because that meant that we could only have one each.   More othen than not though when we take a plate of food like that we usually return with a plate of food from the neighbor as well. So we might not have gotten 2 sausages each but we did get a taste of whatever the neighbor was having for dinner plus a lesson on sharing that you just never forget no matter how far away from Samoa you are.  And I remember that food no matter what it was always tasted delicious. 

I remember as a young girl of 12 having to walk 5 miles to school and back.  I remember having to eat nothing but mago moko’s sometimes after school because there was nothing else to eat.  One of my hubby’s favorite snacks after school was popo and esi, again because that was all there was.  I remember looking with envy at some of the palagi kids in our school eat their peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch.  School lunch?  An unheard of concept for many of us who grew up in Samoa. 

One of my dad’s favorite stories to tell me is how he carefully picked up and wrapped up a half eaten peanut butter sandwich a palagi kid had careless tossed so that he could give it to me later.  I was about 6 at the time.  According to him, I devoured it with a relish and I believe him completely.   What kid in Samoa had peanut butter in those days?  Let me correct that, what kid in Samoa has peanut butter at his or her whim even today? 

Samoa is not paradise as some would have you believe.  It is a real place with real people living real lives so it has its good and its bad.   However, taken all together it was a wonderful place to grow up.  I don’t think I would have nearly the appreciation I have for my life now if I had grown up somewhere else, say the U.S. or New Zealand for that matter.  I know I am appreciative of everything that has come my way because I grew up in Samoa.

 When I look at my kids growing up in the States I worry that they are becoming too selfish.  I worry that they don’t understand that to a Samoan sharing is the tamalii’s way.  I worry that they are too self absorbed, that they will not have the heart of a Samoan.  What I really want for them is to take the best of both worlds.  Ma’imau pe a ga mafai ona experience e tatou fanau nei ua ola a’e i Amerika ma Niu Sila po’o Ausitalia fo’i le olaga sa ola mai ai tatou i Samoa. 

Today as my husband spoiled and pampered me I am grateful that I do have such a man to share my life with.   Do you remember that line from the Sound of Music that goes “somewhere in my youth or childhood I must have done something good?”  Well, today as I reflect on my life up to this point I do feel that somewhere I must have done something good to be this blessed.   I am grateful to be here, I am grateful for my family, for my parents, for my husband and our boys, and I’m grateful I’m Samoan.