Transcript
GRACE TAYLOR: "Dear Loyal New Zealand Citizen. Thank you. For your backbreaking sleep deprived midnight shift dedication to our economy for the last 40 years. Thank you. For your Samoan pride for not accepting a benefit when you became a single parent with two kids and a mortgage. Thank you for not complaining...."
SARA VUI-TALITU: I was fascinated by your choice to portray your story through poetry in motion. Can you tell us why the visual and the dancing is very much a part of the narrative?
GT: I have been writing and a poet and performer for over ten years now and that particular footage for the video is recycled from a video that my mother and I made together in 2013 with a good friend of mine. We made that video and it is called tina (mother) and it is actually three short poems published elsewhere but it is footage that my mother actually allowed and who agreed to be filmed of her - which is a big deal for my mum as she is quite shy, my mum. But siva (Samoan dancing) is for my mum, one of the things that she does that brings her the most joy. It really does. And so I wanted to show her in that element but also put a face to, or I want people that are in places of a position who can make a legislative change to actually see the face of a person whose laws they are affecting and that real people are behind their decisions and I just wanted to put a human element into the hard stuff.
GT: "In honour of your loyal dedication and faithfully paying your taxes for the last 40 years, and when disease takes over and you require medical support everyday, we hereby grant you............nothing. We grant you punishment for 40 years of dedication. We grant you access to a care home you need that broke your children's hearts to admit you into. But don't worry, everything you need to keep you physically alive is there. It only costs $1050 a week. We grant your children this cost. We are certain your single mother daughter who does not get a benefit can handle this, just like you did......"
GT: I did not even plan to write it. I don't like writing when I am in the midst of like the hard stuff that I am going through. But I have a lot of anger and a lot of heartbreak about this whole situation. And me writing that was unplanned and it just came out cos as a human being I needed to get it out of my system cos I could not do the things that I needed to do as a daughter, without getting that negative energy out of my system.
SV : So it is about your journey at this particular time. What are your words to other people going through similar struggles?
GT: Don't be silent. Don't be afraid to question decisions and question laws and legislation. Whilst there is actually nothing that can be done in terms of the decision that has been made for my mother and many others, we can advocate for some sort of change and me doing this is a catalyst for that because once my family situation is sorted, I will be petitioning publicly for this to be going to government and wanting the legislation to be changed. The five year stand down period for this residential subsidy. Because there's no point bringing a voice and advocating but not following through to try to make things happen and that is something that I do intend to do. And for anyone out there that does have the same sort of story as me, join me when it does happen. It is so important to ask questions and don't take the letter as the final word.
SV: That is something many Pacific people do struggle with.
GT: Yeah. I have been navigating this journey with my mum for two years now and it has taken two years, as the daughter of a Samoan woman to be able to allow the outside help and support for my mother. The fact that my mother is in a care home that is heartbreaking for me to do. There is a lot of guilt and grief there, especially as a Samoan daughter to do that. To admit your parent into a care home and that is something that I really struggled with and especially that is not our way, the faasamoa (Samoan way) I had a lot of support but a lot of people kind of looked at me sideways and said 'but you are Samoan, you look after your parents.' But when it is just you . Like I don't have my family village around me. It is literally just me at home and my son, being a single mum as well. There is just so much more. As a Samoan person, not being in Samoa and not having that village around me, I am having to redefine what village actually is. So for me, my village is definitely my brother, but he does not live in New Zealand. And my village is mostly my friends, and that's just truth. But having to refigure what that village actually looks like for you as a Pacific person away from your mother lands is something you have to do, and there is guilt attached to that - well there is for me.
