So what exactly does Mike Do For a Living?

The other half here.

Thought I would share with you one of our projects that we have just completed for the Uniting Church - mainly because it was a bit out of the ordinary. Today we went to the official opening of a new church for a Samoan congregation which we helped build. This particular shot is actually from the celebrations from the day before (Friday) which were held in the traditional Samoan style.

I'll give you a quick overview.

On completion of a new building all of the Samoan congregations (including some from interstate and overseas) are invited to participate in the completion of the new building. Each congregation comes along does a dance and speech and gives a cash gift and a fine mat (shown in the photo) to the congregation completing the project. This particular festival started at 6am (in the dark) when the temperature was 4 degrees C according to temprature gauge in my car. The dancer is often in traditional dress which includes no shirt or shoes as you can also see from the photo. It is a very traditional part of the Samoan culture with great significance to them. When I left at 8am there were several hundred people who had turned up (often for only a short time) to present their gifts.

I have learned a lot about Samoan culture in this particular project. They are amazing people who are role models to us in terms of what community and hospitality can mean. They are not wealthy people but "church" and "generosity" are fully integrated into their lives.

It was fun working with them.