We bid farewell to a devoted Support Worker and cherished member of our Pacific Homecare aiga, Tulai Luamanu. Since 2015, Tulai has been pouring the values of love, care, and professionalism into caring for our customers each day.
It’s a full circle moment for Tulai, as she will soon leave Aotearoa and embark on a new adventure in her homeland, Samoa. Born and raised on the beautiful island, Tulai lived with her grandparents. Being extremely close to them both, they were the inspiration behind why she pursued a career as a Support Worker. One of her earliest memories of this was when her grandma returned from a trip to New Zealand with a set of false teeth. Tulai’s job was to clean the teeth, which made her interested in caring for the elderly.
After arriving in Aotearoa in 1988, Tulai took what she thought was a nursing course, but turned out to be a course to be a Support Worker. “My grandma was here [in New Zealand] at the time, so I said, grandma! I’m going to be a nurse [laughs] when actually it wasn’t.” Surely enough, that one mistake brought her to our workforce, and we can’t thank her enough for it.
“That’s what encouraged me. Although I didn’t know at first that I was taking a course to become a Support Worker, the encouragement from my grandma inspired me [to continue this work]”. With motivation from her grandma, she finished the course and has spent the last 7 years as an amazing Support Worker at Pacific Homecare.
This began as one of her most memorable moments about working here, as she said “getting to know the clients and developing a friendship with their family” quickly became one of her favourite things about the role. When interacting with the elderly customers, many of them reminded her of her grandma.
“Working as a Support Worker has been an extremely rewarding career since I was employed with Pacific Homecare…I am also grateful for the many opportunities I have had to learn and grow professionally…Serving people in the community is not easy. Do it with a humble heart, not as a reward, but as a gift to the community.”
We’d like to wish Tulai all the best in her future endeavours. She has been an amazing support to us all. May this not be a permanent farewell, but a see you soon!
