It is a privilege to share and celebrate Papua New Guinea Tok Pisin Language Week with you all, at Pasifika Medical Association here in New Zealand.

My family and I left Papua New Guinea in 2018 to work with the Cook Islands Ministry of Health, where we stayed for three and a half years. I still remember arriving in the Cook Islands alone, with my family joining me a few months later. In those early months, I missed speaking Tok Pisin terribly. I hadn’t met any other Papua New Guineans at the time, and the shift from speaking Tok Pisin daily to using English in almost every context, at work, with friends, and in the community, was a big adjustment.

The closest I came to speaking something familiar was trying to communicate in Solomon Pidgin with my colleagues from the Solomon Islands. When my family finally arrived, they came along with two close friends of mine, also nurses from Papua New Guinea, and it felt so good to speak Tok Pisin again. Throughout our time in the Cook Islands, it was always a joy to meet up with my wantok sisters and let loose in our language. Our Tokpilai - our jokes - were always funnier when expressed in Tok Pisin slang.

Raising a family abroad comes with its own challenges, especially when it comes to preserving our culture and language. I have two sons, and our eldest, now 11 years old, has grown up overseas without the experience of living among other Tok Pisin-speaking children. My husband and I speak Tok Pisin at home occasionally, and while our son understands some of it, he isn’t yet fluent. Still, I’m determined to teach him, and I look forward to the day he can speak Tok Pisin confidently.

As a Papua New Guinean recently settled in New Zealand, it’s exciting to see the Pacific communities celebrating their languages. Considering PNG Tok Pisin Language Week, I’ve challenged myself to identify cultural gaps in my children’s knowledge and take responsibility to Preserve, Revitalise, and Promote our Language and Culture (Lukautim, Strongim, na Kirapim Tok Ples na Pasin blo Tubuna).

I hope this resonates with other Pasifika parents who may also feel the call to take bold steps in passing down our languages and traditions. By doing so, we help our children stay connected to their roots, take pride in where they come from, and appreciate the new lands they now call home.

It is truly an honour to share PNG Tok Pisin Language Week with you all here at the Pasifika Medical Association in New Zealand.

Tenkyu tru.