As Some of you may know, my name is Sholance Thomas and I’m proud to present and share my experience and impact of the Salesian Cagliero Immersion project of the year 2023 where last years destination was set in my ethnic country Samoa. To quickly summarize what happened last year, On June 24th 2023 I set off on a journey with a small group of Salesian students who came from different Salesian schools in Australia and together we spent our two-week school holiday away from the Melbournian cold and into the warm welcoming grounds of the Samoan capital city Apia and the island of Savaii, Saleleoga. We spent our days being accustomed to my culture where we learned the home and school lifestyle of our Salesian friends and how they just like us connect with god and Catholicism.
As a Samoan myself, I was excited to finally be able to connect with my mum’s homeland and be lucky enough to have the opportunity to even meet my blood relatives and visit my mother’s childhood village there too for the first time, marking me as the first grand-son of my grandparents amongst my cousins who have only lived in Auckland, to set foot on the country. Despite the possibility of missing school work and being the only Salesian Chadstone boy to join this group alone, I willingly joined the programme because the Samoan culture to me is very important, to me to see how my people live and to be able to connect with them.
If I could discuss the impact of the trip, the Impact for me was their strong and faithful honour for their welcoming, generous and inviting hospitality. During my visit to Apia and Savaii, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of amazement and respect for those who welcomed me and my group members. I was impacted by the thought and idea of my people who didn’t have as much as me or you, these adults and teens younger than us who work really hard in school and working jobs that are purely all for helping their family in a less affluent society and lifestyle.
Over there I’ve seen all the possible struggles they have, old homes, hot weather, lack of technology and yet despite it all, they all value and uphold Hospitality, Resilience and Generosity out of tradition which to me is very admirable. I knew that my culture by heart are always ecstatic to have new visitors. But in the end it baffles me but makes me feel grateful on how well they do it, put a smile across their face and allow me to rest under their roof with life and home conditions are not as fortunate as us, and I wont even begin with the amount of gifting and buying they would give to us during our stay. They would rather see us have something even if it means they go without.
For example this sarong or kilt im wearing is called a Lava Lava, a traditional Samoan rectangular cloth that wraps around your waist, it is also of oceanic ethnicity where other islander countries too have their own cloth but named differently. This is something everyone can wear, you’d see this everywhere in Samoa, not just at home, but at the beach, in town, restaurants, schools, parks everywhere. But this can be an example of a common gift Samoans give to their visitors. This lava lava I am wearing was bought by the family I stayed with in Savaii, even this necklace too is one they bought for me, and there was another necklace they bought for me called an Ulafala which unfortunately I no longer have on me, is a necklace made up of tree and fruit seeds and shells that is dipped in a type of red dye which can marks the social status of a chief or to mark a special guest. All in all, these sacred and traditional souvenirs they bought for me really made me feel welcomed but most of all have a great sense of gratitude for their generosity. Not just my blood related family in Apia but the family in Savaii who we knew nothing about were willing to have their arms out and treat me as if I was one of their own.
Samoan culture to me is something to be cherished, something sacred and important to not just the ones who live and are born from it, but for others to learn about. And I don’t just speak for Samoa’s culture, because I want to imply that there are hundreds of other smaller cultures that behave much like my people’s traditions. Third world countries, places of poverty or harsher environment conditions need to uphold their cultures and traditions. It makes them unique.
Places like Samoa, take us back in time and to me it was refreshing.
We now live in an ever-fast changing world. It’s easy to feel discouraged, lost, and we may feel like the world is against us.
With the wide range of access to technology and social media we can feel disconnected from our communities. We have so much yet we feel we have little. Samoa truly do have little but they feel they have everything because they have each other.
Donations and fundraising is always a big help towards things we take for granted for example school books, transportation and other materials. Help raise money to give my brothers and sisters over there who deserve so much more for their kind hearts, who remain strong, and honour their tradition.
I’d like to leave you all with the Samoan motto: Fa’avae I le atua Samoa, which means “God be the foundation of Samoa”.
Thank you
