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Samoa Briefs

joyetter@samoanews.com

PACIFIC SHORT STORY COMPETITION UNDERWAY IN SAMOA

Apia, SAMOA — Samoa Observer’s Editor in Chief, Savea Sano Malifa and his wife Muliaga Jean Malifa who is also the publisher, have again opened up the opportunity to writers all over the Pacific — young and old — to the Samoa Observer Tusitala Short Story Competition — this year, stories are only to be written in English.

According to the Tusitala Website, the Pacific Short Story competition is underway for 2016 and the deadline for entries is Oct. 14, 2016, and writers are encouraged to check out the website at www.tusitalacompetition.com in order to read the entry rules and submit their stories.

The 2016 Samoa Observer Tusitala Short Story Competition follows on from the success of the one held in 2015. From the entries received from around the Pacific, the top 16 stories were compiled into an anthology, “Our Heritage, the Ocean”.

Organizing Committee member, Marj Moore told Samoa News, “The annual competition was set up by the Samoa Observer’s Editor in Chief so that our region, which is rich in oral history, tradition and culture and is undergoing many changes, could be documented in stories by authentic and diverse Pasefika voices.”

This is exactly what happened, said Moore, with the top stories coming from Australia, New Zealand, American Samoa, Niue, the Cook Islands, Fiji and Samoa.

“And while the competition this year is limited to stories written in English only, the competition has already attracted the interest of the much larger Commonwealth Short Story competition as well as interest to have the anthology translated and published in other languages.

“Narrators of last year’s stories range from an unborn child to a great grandparent while themes cover many of the issues facing Pacific people today regardless of where they live,” said Moore.

Each of the three regional prizewinners will receive US$1,000 while the overall winner will also receive an extra US$2,000.

JAPAN HELPS RECONSTRUCTION OF FALELIMA PRIMARY SCHOOL IN SAMOA

Apia, SAMOA — The Falelima Primary School from the big island of Savai’i, is one of the lucky recipients of a newly reconstructed school building that opened last week.

According to the press statement from the Japan Embassy, on March 10, 2016 a grant of US$90,566 was agreed to fund this project, between the Primary School committee and the Embassy of Japan, whereas any additional cost was the committee’s responsibility.

“The project is meant to build a new building with eight classrooms, a staff room and a library. The ambassador himself, HE Tuimaugaoalii Kazumasa Shibuta mentioned that the Japan government is committed to assisting Samoa in all sectors of development as identified in its strategy for development. Japan aligns its funding with priorities outlined in the Strategy for Development of Samoa which lists Education as a priority,” the press release says.

Japan has been working in partnership with the government of Samoa since 1991 to further develop such grassroots and human security projects.