“I am over the moon and very excited! In fact, I’m honoured and grateful that PNG has been added to the Pacific Language Weeks roster." 

Paraka shares that PNG is a diverse country, with an array of languages spoken by its population. 

“There is around 850 different languages spoken in Papua New Guinea. My family speaks Tok Pisin at home which is common amongst PNG families, however it is not unusual to hear different languages on the land." 

Now based in Christchurch, Paraka is proud of her roots to PNG and is passionate about sharing her culture with not only her colleagues in the workplace, but also her children. She explains that in order to preserve their language and rich culture, the knowledge must be passed down to the younger generation.  

“We speak Tok Pisin to our children at home, we cook with our PNG flair and style, as well as explain to our children why we cook and flavour our foods this way. Our home is filled with PNG wood carvings and weavings and we try our best to support any PNG events we hear of locally 

“Our culture is very beautiful. I am so proud. I am proud that during this week I am able to share with my colleagues a little more about our beautiful PNG culture and customs.”