Saoatulagioletagaloa Penina Tu’unai Ifopo - Founder & Managing Director of Falelalaga Cultural and Education Center

“My success is the success of the village.”

Saoatulagioletagaloa Penina Tu’unai Ifopo is the visionary behind the Falelalaga Cultural and Education Center. Driven by overflowing alofa and a wealth of intergenerational wisdom, Penina facilitates learning that heals and strengthens cultural identities. Penina has created a cultural sanctuary that enhances the mana of everyone who is woven into its fibres.

The Falelalaga Cultural and Education Center is a space wherein Samoan tamaiti learn about their language and culture from their elders. Sacred knowledge is passed down to the next generation by leaders who ensure that learners feel safe enough to engage as beginners. They are guided by those with rich lived experience and invaluable cultural skills, such as weaving and fluency in Gagana Sāmoa.

These intergenerational connections provide the perfect setting for learners to locate themselves culturally. Through culturally embedded learning programmes, many learners journey from confusion and discomfort to an unshakeable sense of belonging. Whether they are weaving or speaking, tamaiti are supported by people who anchor them to their ancestors.

By reinforcing the cultural foundations of learning communities, Penina successfully promotes the well-being of multiple generations of Tagata Sāmoa. She is captivated by the way that young people walk when they are confident in their origins, and the way her elders speak when their voices are heard by the future. Penina brings her village together again to remind them of who they are: intelligent, powerful, loving voyagers.