Aloha! We made it safely to pago pago via honolulu, hawai’i ~ met with wonderful community folks at Ho’oulu ‘Aina, getting our hands into the red dirt weeding out the garden to plant new seeds, talk stories with vaka builders, learning about peva (fishtail ; bowties) to mend cracks on the vaka and learning more about another woman bangka builder/vision holder and discussed how to heal from ancestral wounds of sexual violence in our communities. Grateful for the connections, the love and island friendships as Balik sa Dagat Bangka Journey with NAPIESV journeys with the crew of American Samoa Alliance against Domestic Violence and Sexual Violence in Tutuila, American Samoa. Many blessings to dolphins, egrets, mangroove, mango, nangka (sasalapi), raw fish, sheep, jaguar, monkey, swift moving mackerel, flounder, raspberries, nuts and ants and fruitfly.

photo credits: vaka photo taken by nina jusuf, leader photo from internet, coconut tree in american samoa

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