Degree acknowledges Limas dedication
At Auckland Graduation on June 15, the audience gave Tuulima Alesana Segi Lesoa a standing ovation as she walked across the stage and adorned her kaiako and kaimahi with gifts of lei.
Since 2006 Lima - as she’s known - has worked her way from beginner level computing to business studies, to social services, to now having a Bachelor of Bicultural Social Work degree.
“I’m really thankful and appreciate the opportunity, but it was a challenge,” the 67-year-old says.
“My refuge is my language – o lou malu a papa o lau Gagana. English is my second language but I can say straight what’s in my heart. It was hard work but I always learned something – especially when I missed something out.”
Lima says another challenge was remembering that it’s never too late to learn.
“Try your best and work hard.”
Lima was born in Vaisala Savaii Western Samoa and came to New Zealand in her early 20s to help support her parents.
When her dad passed away in 2003 and mum in 2004, Lima became the eldest in her family and says her graduation is dedicated to them.
“I can never pay back what my parents did for me. Samoan life was hard, there were nine of us and it wasn’t easy,” she says.
Since embarking on her study with Te Wānanga o Aotearoa more than a decade ago, Lima has also been a Citizens Advice Bureau, Civil Defence and St Johns’ Friend of the Emergency Department volunteer.
“I love meeting people of multi-cultures and doing this volunteer work has really helped me a lot in my study. In my leadership I always think of my family. Money is nothing, the work you do is what’s important.”
It was Lima’s Certificate in Small Business kaiako that first introduced her to social services, but she kept her study private, handwriting her assignments before using the library computers to type them up.
“My family had no idea,” Lima laughs.
But, they were there to celebrate her graduation; her sister, her great grandnephew, her brother’s wife with her children and their spouses, plus another three nieces with their kids, a cousin’s family and her friends.
“It was a pleasure and a privilege. I want to thank Mr and Mrs Afoa Filemu Ah San for blessing me by attending the day. It was lovely having my family together, but I think I better cool down for a while.”
Pūrongo whakahirahira
Featured stories
Te Wānanga o Aotearoa launches new reo Māori programmes to help te reo thrive for generations to come
For over four decades, Te Wānanga o Aotearoa has created pathways for generations of tauira to learn, speak, teach and live te reo Māori. That legacy has supported the return of te reo Māori to everyday life, from whānau learning their first kupu, to tauira carrying reo onto marae, and into workplaces, classrooms and homes.
Turning a passion for rongoā into community healing
Rongoā Māori has always been part of Patricia Tangira-Falwasser's life, but it was her studies at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa that deepened her knowledge and inspired her to start a business that now serves her wider community.
Te Wānanga o Aotearoa kaimahi claims gold at Waka Ama World Championship
Ken Henry (Te Whakatōhea, Waikato-Tainui) is a Tauira Support Advisor at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa Whakatāne campus who took home gold at the Waka Ama World Championships in Singapore in August.
A passion for taonga Māori takes Chanel to Oxford
What started as a desire to strengthen her reo Māori has taken Chanel Coromandel (Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Apakura, Ngāti Whanaunga) on an unexpected path, leading to an opportunity to contribute to the care and preservation of taonga Māori at the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford, England.
Reconnecting to te ao Māori through raranga
Haylee Roussel (Ngāti Rārua, Rangitāne, Ngāti Maniapoto) was searching for a way to reconnect with te ao Māori when she enrolled in the Certificate in Māori and Indigenous Art, Raranga, at the Waiwhero campus of Te Wānanga o Aotearoa.
A journey shaped by whānau and a love of tamariki
Members of Tayla-Marie Takawe’s (Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Maniapoto) whānau were among the first tauira to graduate from the Bachelor of Education (Primary Teaching) at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa.
Finding a deeper sense of self through te ao Māori
Moving to Aotearoa from rural Australia as a teenager, Lily Warring found herself wanting to learn more about the culture and language of the place she now called home.
Creating the spark for business success
With plenty of experience as an electrician, Josh Verstraten was ready to branch out from employee to business owner, but he knew running a successful business would require a new set of skills.
From financial stress to financial freedom for Auckland whānau
For Augustine Kopa, studying the Certificate in Money Management at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa was about creating a better future for her whānau.
Two generations, one reo Māori journey
When Melody Francis (Ngāti Kahungunu) saw the positive impact that studying te reo Māori had on her mum, she decided to jump on the waka and begin the journey alongside her.
