9pm in Bonn. Cold. It’s been a long day at our COP23 media training workshop. I’m exhausted. The kind of tiredness where you just want to sit down on the sidewalk and (cry) go to sleep. But we also havent eaten so we find a...
Read MoreOne must be careful when dealing with different countries, cultures and languages. Because if we’re not careful, then differences can lead to SOME people thinking bad words and getting musu at others. This is particularly important at international conventions where countries are trying to find...
Read MoreAs I write this, I am going to Bonn, Germany for COP23 – the Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework on Climate Change. This year’s COP is being chaired by Fiji and as part of that, 10 journalists from the Pacific were awarded...
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30 October 2017. – In a powerful series of social media posts, internationally acclaimed Samoan author Sia Figiel has gone public with her struggle with mental illness and called for greater awareness and advocacy for those in our worldwide Pasifika communities living with mental health issues. Writing...
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On Saturday evenings, Fa’auuga Setefano of Leauva’a makes puligi, Samoan style puddings, rich with coconut cream and caramelized brown sugar. Steamed in bubbling pots over her gas burner stove, it’s hot tiring work. Especially when she makes 38 of them as she did last night....
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The Family Safety Act was passed in 2013. The focus of this legislation is to help keep families safe and in particular, to improve the handling of domestic violence and related matters. A key part of this Act was the introduction of the Protection Order. What...
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Our stories are like a fire of pleading hope lit in the wastelands of half-forgotten things. 29 September, 2017. Samoa – Today is the 8 year anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami that devastated many coastal villages in Samoa, American Samoa and Tonga. It’s a day many try...
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15 July, Samoa – Samoa Planet editor and co-founder Lani Wendt Young is a winner of the UNFCCC secretariat journalism competition for Pacific island media. As one of 10 “outstanding journalists” selected from the Pacific, Ms Young will receive sponsored participation in the United Nations Climate...
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Earlier this week, a young man was sentenced to 2 years in prison for possession of marijuana. A lot of it. The Judge pointed out that he was clearly selling it, ‘for commercial gain’. She told him he should have thought of his family before...
Read MoreSo without even reading a health report that includes a recommendation to legalise abortion – our esteemed leader has rubbished it and emphatically said it will never happen in Samoa. “Government will never ever accept legalizing abortion for any purposes regardless. “It is murder and similar to...
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