2 Oct 2017

Fifth Tuvaluan language week celebrated in NZ

12:06 pm on 2 October 2017

Tuvaluans in New Zealand are celebrating their fifth annual language week this week.

Fala Haulangi

Fala Haulangi Photo: RNZ Pacific / Sela Jane Hopgood

The theme for 2017 is 'fano ki mua kae sa puli tou iloga' meaning 'progress to thrive not forgetting your roots'.

For Pacific Media Network's Tuvalu programme producer Fala Haulangi, that is something she stands by having moved from her island of Nanumea to Nauru and then to Auckland in the 1980s for better opportunities.

Ms Haulangi said it is, not only, about achieving your own dreams and goals, but also helping to maintain the culture and language through the generations.

"It's very important, its like, Tuvaluans living in New Zealand now, we all want to thrive in our families and then in our communities and New Zealand as a whole, so to me it is very important that you got to know your roots, your values that your parents or your grandparents have instilled in you, that you don't lose those."

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