Eelia speech

 Start: (hook: to Lou to Lou)if I didn't do that to my samoan elders I would have got the jandal! I think you definitely know what that means.In samaon culture it's like saying excuse me or please in front of your elders.

 That’s the first thing my samoan elders taught me; you always need to be respectful to them and others older than you. Do you remember the last thing your elders taught you or were you too busy on your phone watching tik tok to notice?

Because I am samoan Maori I have many elders in my life as I come from two large families.That means I have a lot of people telling me what to do. 

How do you entertain yourself when you’re bored? Let me guess tik tok, you tube,TV,Netflix,? My Grandfather taught me how to make your own fun to entertain yourself. He taught me this by explaining that when they were young they didn’t have as much as we have nowadays. So We just laugh, make up stories and we entertain ourselves without any phones or any technology. He tells me about when they were kids and how they used to live. One of his stories was when he stole apples from his neighbours house because they didn’t have dinner so I thought I guess you gotta do what you gotta do. This story taught me that you need to be grateful for what you have, such as a warm bed, dinner every night, nice clothes, TV. 

My grandfather and I love tutuing! if you don’t know what that means, it means playing and mucking around and we are the best at that. He taught me that when I don’t know how to change the oil on his lawnmower or if he doesn’t know how to make a video call on their phone, then you can always ask for help and he taught me that they’re always there for you and you are there for them.

Without a doubt they taught me to never be afraid, They taught me to take risks, and that you won’t know unless you try. They have taught me a lot of things such as overcoming fears. Hey I know they could come in and teach here for the day I mean they cover the whole lot in one lesson! I think my grandfather calls it life skills. I would be proud that they could teach you all this stuff I know. Lesson 1 would be: It’s ok to make mistakes you don’t have to always be perfect. Lesson 2: You can learn from your mistakes.  who else says that I know it’s not just my elders saying it. Elders aren’t just your grandmas and grandpas, they're older people that you look up to.

Haven’t you wondered why they buy you Christmas presents? It is because they’re kind and that's a another thing they taught me-Kindness. They taught me kindness by giving me things, thinking of others and by never having a bad thing to say about anyone. 

You might not notice but your elders they love you more than anything ,  You could teach  them all the things you did as a kid. I would say you learn more when you are with your elders that's just a one man opinion. They taught  me lots, the one thing that I would say is one of the most important things they taught me is, what love is- and I am grateful for that.

  Guess what?  I wasn’t on technology when I learnt that.

I have been raised knowing what it means to know your language and who you are and where you come from.  On my Dad’s side his father was a chief from his village and on my mum’s side one of my great grandfathers is was a great Ngapuhi chief. My elders taught me that you can go anywhere in the world and be anything you want to be as long as you know who you are and where you come from. 

Finally, what I am saying to you is that your elders are the most important thing in your life and if you listen you will learn lessons that will last a lifetime. I know that I wouldn’t be who I am today if I wasn’t influenced or taught by my elders.

So turn off your phones, get your head out of social media and start learning from your elders it just might change your life!

Thank you for listening to my speech.