This reflection was written on my return from attending the ten-year anniversary of Rākau Tautoko. I joined the organisation as a director in 2019, just before I left my role at Tāmaki Community Development Trust and moved to Ōtautahi. Rākau Tautoko continues to support the legacy of the HEART Movement.
HEART Movement-Mana Wāhine event 2019
I was asked to write a speech. I wrote it on the plane. On a flight from Ōtautahi to Tāmaki. A journey from home to heart.
On the ride from the airport, I saw so many Tongan and Samoan flags out in force. A display not meant for me, but I indulged in a moment of pretend, a homecoming parade for me.
It was important to come, and worth the effort to get dressed up. Fitting, as this is where I discovered my love of pinup. So, petticoat and glitter sparkles for the night.
The Uber ride travelled a path that used to be my life. Past my old office, the room in which I really learnt to lead. Sometimes like a butterfly, and when required, like a dragon breathing fire.
Then on to Tripoli, Alamein and Dunkirk. The streets I used to walk each day, past the homes of families I knew so well. Streets named after Second World War battle sites, in the place where injustice spurred me to fight.
I arrived and walked up the stairs, hearing a familiar voice, one I used to hear every day but hadn’t heard for years.
On paper, this was a work event. I was there as a director of an organisation I joined just before I left. Here to celebrate the ten-year anniversary of work I have mostly supported from afar. But on entering that room, I knew this was something else.
This usually reluctant hugger instinctively offered and held long embraces. This was a family reunion, a homecoming, a reconnection with a part of myself.
I was asked to speak. I took the microphone and started to read my prepared words, then put them away. I’m not entirely sure what I said, but there were no nerves. A moment in time when I felt all the pieces of myself had fallen into place.
Now I’m on a plane returning home. Grateful that I made the trip. Ōtautahi is my home, but Tāmaki still holds a part of me, my heart.
