Jane Vaʻafusuaga

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Jane Vaʻafusuaga was born and raised in Eastbourne, Wellington and is of Scottish heritage. Having trained as a teacher, Jane taught for 10 years in Auckland and four years in Apia, Samoa. Jane lives in Samoa in the village of Faleaseʻela, with her husband, Olsen and daughter, Coco.

Their house sits beside the Liua le Vai o Sina River, where they host visitors from around the world through their ecocultural adventure tourism business. Life in the village means Jane has been immersed in the culture, language, natural environment, church and customs of the Samoan people. She works in the family business, writes when she can and volunteers at the local primary school where she has set up a library.

Jane is a 2017 New Zealand Society of Authors mentorship recipient.

"My passion is to write stories and articles that children, especially Pacific Island children can respond to. To give them characters and situations they can relate to and stories they can see themselves in, ultimately to inspire children to read".

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Āsiasiga iā Tinā

Jane Vaʻafusuaga

A children's picture book about a Sāmoan family set in New Zealand from the perspective of a palagi girl. A normal event in one culture may seem unusual to another culture. When pa… [+]

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A Gift For Ana

Jane Vaʻafusuaga

That first night in Sāmoa, Ana slept next to her grandmother on an old bed with sheets that smelled of mothballs. Now it was morning and as she opened her eyes, Ana saw that the ot… [+]

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O le Meaālofa mo Ana

Jane Vaʻafusuaga

O le pō muamua i Sāmoa, na momoe ai Ana ma lona tinā matua i luga o se moega tuāi lava, ma ʻaʻāfu i ni ʻieʻafu namu atigi mogamoga. Ua malama le taeao, ma e ala aʻe Ana, ua leai se… [+]

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Visiting Grandma

Jane Vaʻafusuaga

A children's picture book about a Sāmoan family set in New Zealand from the perspective of a palagi girl. A normal event in one culture may seem unusual to another culture. When pa… [+]

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Uncle Tino

Jane Vaʻafusuaga

James and Jessie are embarrassed by Uncle Tino’s old car and the way he honks the horn so loudly when he drives them to school. But when the Sāmoan culture group needs help to prep… [+]