Tui Salevao, President, NZMWF If you ask any Samoan if they have ever come across this proverb, you would expect an affirmation that they have heard it. If you then ask what this saying means to them, they would explain in their own words that to get somewhere in life you need to prove your service to your elders, village, church or family.

This proverb is dear to me and has always been my mantra in whatever I do within my family, church or work. This is the key to my journey in life. My life revolves around service.

I started work at the age of 17 and when I applied for a cadetship with the Department of Social Welfare, I wrote, “I want to help people and see them progress in life.”

This is still important to me 34 years later; helping those in need and being of service in any way I can in my capacity as an employee, parish member, daughter, mother, sister or aunty. I have learned over the years just how important serving others is, regardless of what position I may hold.

I firmly believe in sharing my knowledge and helping others to see and realise their potential. At the forefront of whatever they do in life, God is at the centre of all things guiding them in their journey. Serving is about doing it with the right intentions, and not doing it for the sake of doing it as this clouds the reason behind what you do.

As NZ-born-Samoans, our cultural values and beliefs were embedded in me and my siblings at an early age by our parents. Service (tautua) was drummed into us and we were expected to serve our elders and respect them in every way as they held that status.

This tautua is still embedded in our children but as we live in a westernised country, it’s about modernising the service. I have given my life to serve wholeheartedly in everything I do. This is my way of paying forward my skills and attributes.

As I count down the months before I end my term as President for NZ Methodist Women’s Fellowship, I pray that I have given justice to the role in serving our members. It has been a fantastic two years and as it comes to an end, I believe that as one door closes another door will open.

“Proverbs form an important part of Samoan traditions and culture where oratory, poetry, metaphors, and subtlety in language art forms are held in high esteem as a form of communication in a ceremony and ritual of fa’aSamoa”. (Excerpt from Wikipedia)

This is powerful when it comes to explaining Samoan proverbs and the importance of why chiefs and orators use proverbs when addressing an audience to captivate their interest in the story/journey they are about to explain. So, for those of us that use these proverbs, we also want to captivate those we are serving and enlighten them on our journey.