It’s Vaiaso o te 'Gana Tuvalu – Tuvalu Language Week
To support and celebrate the Pacific Language Weeks series, AUT works alongside its students to elevate their experiences of Pacific culture, practices and language; taonga to be preserved, protected and sustained.
These taonga are often ancient and deeply significant from cultural, spiritual and social perspectives and are practices shared by others in the University’s community.
For Vaiaso o te 'Gana Tuvalu three members of AUT’s Tuvalu Students Association perform a fatele – a traditional Tuvaluan song and dance – which connects them to their precious island nation in the west-central Pacific.
Fatele is a collective and intergenerational practice, bringing people together through singing, drumming and dancing. It is a way of sharing cultural knowledge between generations, strengthening connections to community and keeping traditions alive.
In this video, AUT Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) student and Vice-President of AUT Tuvalu Students Association, Tia Maibuca Asafo, performs a fatele from her home atoll of Vaitupu alongside two other AUT students of Tuvaluan heritage, Antoinette Usah Sapakuka and Tavake Jasmine Iosefa.
Tia is studying on a scholarship from Tuvalu, with hopes of returning home and using her engineering degree to contribute to and support her community.
As she shares the meaning behind the words of this particular fatele and its connection to Tuvalu, she says with great emotion, “The words of this fatele remind us that as Tuvaluans, we have a responsibility to uphold our nation through our actions and through our education at AUT as students. Wherever we may be, we carry Tuvalu with us.”
Climate change is particularly threatening for the long-term habitability of the island country of Tuvalu, which has a land area of only 26 square kilometres and an average elevation of less than two metres above sea level.
The 2026 theme for Vaiaso o te 'Gana Tuvalu is "Tuvalu, alofa ki tou fakavae, kae teugina tou iloga i tau kete fai malaga." - Tuvalu, cherish your foundation, and carry your identity along your journey.
Tuvaluan greetings and other resources for Vaiaso o te 'Gana Tuvalu, including email signatures and printable posters, are available on the website of the Ministry for Pacific Peoples.
AUT’s 2026 AUT Pacific language video series as they are launched, watch on the AUT Pacific YouTube channel.