Languages of Aotearoa and the Pacific celebrated at Harakeke House

As part of the Wise Group whānau of charitable organisations, Le Va is fortunate to work alongside colleagues from LinkPeople, Workwise and Pathways in our Harakeke House office in Manukau.

On 22 May, all of Harakeke House joined in celebration of the beautiful languages and cultures that make Aotearoa and South Auckland such a rich vibrant community and an awesome place to work.

Workwise chief executive Warren Elwin opened the celebrations, talking about the important role language plays as a pillar of cultural connection and wellbeing. Wise Management Services facility lead, Vai Aiono, led the group to sing the national anthems of Aotearoa and our Pacific neighbours, including Tonga, Cook Islands, Fiji and Samoa.

Jim Stretton, Le Va senior project coordinator, got everyone warmed up with an introduction to the rhythm of the Samoan Siva. Le Va community engagement lead, Charles Lavea, taught the team some key facts about Samoa followed by a pop quiz – capital of Samoa is Apia, there are three Samoan dialects and the women’s dress is called a puletasi.

Le Va’s primary prevention manager, Taitu’uga Mirofora Mataafa-Komiti, then taught us all the dance moves we might need for our next Samoan function. The event ended with the sharing of beautiful kai.

Many thanks to our friends from across the Wise Group for putting together such a wonderful event. We appreciate you all bringing us together – ngā mihi, fa’afetai, malo ‘aupito, vinaka, meitaki.