Shed a tear for culture

These tin sheds aren't great. But Joanna Davies meets Pacific Island craftswomen doing a great job within by weaving stories of cultural identity and teaching young people the intricacies of traditional Polynesian skills.
From the outside, the Waitakere Pacific Arts and Cultural Centre in Henderson doesn't look like much.
But, inside, the two tin storage sheds and the portable building brim with colourful tivaevae quilts, weavings and carvings. Tapa cloths cover the walls, and Sefuiva Siaumau Saifoloi sits weaving pieces of plastic together to make a bag.
"We are like a family here," says Ms Saifoloi. "Every week, we come here and bring our weaving and learn from each other."
Ms Saifoloi is a "mama", one of the volunteers who teach Pacific art and culture to school groups. "I'm 75. In Samoa, I used to be a teacher, but that was a long time ago. I like coming here and being with the kids."
In winter, the tin sheds are inhospitably cold.
The centre's founder, Mary Ava, says warmer buildings would allow the teachers to provide better classes for the school groups that visit.
"In the winter, we drink a cup of tea or coffee [to warm up], and get the kids to run around."
Waitakere City Council has granted the centre $80,000 from the Auckland Regional Services Trust Arts Fund. Mrs Ava says the money will go towards insulating the sheds.
"In 2004, there was a fire that damaged our original buildings. We moved into these storage sheds because we could not stop what we were doing. We wanted to keep the classes and so we carried on."
Mrs Ava says the mamas keep Pacific culture alive in the community. "We do this so children learn about Pacific cultures and to learn respect for different cultures. The kids reach out for things here that they can't learn at school. The kids remember their time here. When we go to the supermarket, kids wave and say, 'Hi mama'."
The centre's director, Jarcinda Stowers-Ama, says the money will go towards bringing the buildings up to standard.
"We want to make them waterproof and safer for the children. What we have now is not ideal, but we can still do what we do," she says, adding that the grant is a blessing. "Not a penny will be wasted. Everything we have here has been donated. The mamas built the fences themselves and we like that the centre has grown and that everyone has made a part of it. A lot of people come here and say the place reminds them of the islands, and people feel at home here."
Pacific purpose
Waitakere Pacific Arts and Cultural Centre is next door to Corban Estate Arts Centre, in Henderson, and is the only centre in Auckland that teaches a range of Pacific art.
Mamas teach school groups how to make lei, weaving, Pacific drumming, and the history of tapa cloth and  tivaevae designs. Everyone is welcome to visit the centre.
For more info, ph 838 3205.