Pro-aging

Growing up as the youngest in a three-generation household, I always looked forward to growing older. 

I can hardly wait
To see you come of age
But I guess we'll both just have to be patient
'cause it's a long way to go. . .
But in the meantime . . .
Life is what happens to you
While you're busy making other plans

– “Beautiful Boy,” by John Lennon

But I didn’t look forward to living forever, which seemed like an exhausting prospect.  Instead, I preferred that others outlive myself, so I wouldn’t have to be the one left behind having to deal with loss, grief, sadness, etc.  However, according to Howard S. Friedman and Leslie R. Martin of The Longevity Project, my exceptionally high conscientious personality is a strong predictor of longevity.  So onward, I go forth growing older and aging in my conscientious manner . . . 

According to The Living to 100 Life ExpectancyCalculator and Northwestern Mutual Lifespan Calculator, my life expectancy is 100 years and 96 years, respectively. 

I was amused and somewhat alarmed about these predictions.  Because my grandparents lived past 90 years old before succumbing to pneumonia, I’ve been using age 90 when making retirement calculations so now I’m alarmed that I may have to build a larger nest egg for my retirement! 

The Living to 100 feedback indicated that I could increase my life expectancy by making the following lifestyle changes:  taking an aspirin every day to improve heart and brain health could add 1 year, and minimizing sun exposure to reduce skin cancer risk could add a quarter of a year.  However, I have no intention of following these recommendations because I don’t really desire to live an additional 1.25 years beyond age 100. 

I see no reason to take aspirin daily to prevent a heart attack/stroke when I don’t have disease risk factors, and when risk of gastrointestinal bleeding may outweigh any benefits.  I am skeptical of daily aspirin advice, which sounds like pharmaceutical marketing, when tastier food can be medicine such as DASH (Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension, which prescribes lots of fruits and vegetables, less sodium and fat).

I also don’t plan to minimize sun exposure if it merely adds 3 months to my life expectancy.  I use UV rays to make sunshine vitamin D, which is needed to properly use calcium and phosphorus to strengthen bones.  If out in the sun for more than 30 minutes, I take reasonable precaution like wearing a wide-brimmed hat and covering up my skin.

The Living to 100 feedback also suggested the following nutrition and physical activity changes to increase my life expectancy:  add more dairy products or take calcium supplement to add half a year; increase exercise to 30 minutes, at least 4 days a week to add 1 year; and being more active in my leisure time could add half a year.     

I often wonder if the dairy and pharmaceutical industries have teamed up to market this idea that the best sources of calcium for bone health come from dairy and calcium supplements.  According to Amy Lanou’s Building Bone Vitality, high animal protein (dairy) diets are associated with high hip fracture rates because they increase calcium loss due to high renal acid loss (kidney stones); instead, highly alkaline, cruciferous greens are better sources for calcium absorption.

         

If my busy schedule permits, I would like to increase my physical activity, which is also recommended for bone health.  However, my motivation for making changes would be to reduce pain and suffering (potential bone fractures) and to balance my introspective activity, rather than to extend my life (as I might not be able to afford to live longer).

Northwestern Mutual’s question on blood pressure didn’t provide a response for low blood pressure (hypotension) so I responded with “best” answer that my blood pressure reading is normal.  In fact, I have low blood pressure, which is not really a problem unless it causes symptoms like dizziness and faintness that can increase the risk of falls and thereby shorten longevity if fatal.

(Photos taken from Tulipmania at Pier 39.  Tulip blooms for two weeks: die young, stay pretty.)

Coming of Age in American Samoa

It’s been over 85 years since anthropologist Margaret Mead published Coming of Age in Samoa, based on her field studies of adolescent girls over a six-week period on the island of Tau in American Samoa.  It’s unknown if her study subjects are still alive, but I decided to spend one week on the main island of Tutuila (where 95% of American Samoa’s population lives) to study food culture and aging.

Like Bhutan and Galapagos Islands, American Samoa is naturally beautiful (with many reminders to stop littering, plastic bags banned since 2010), relatively isolated (only two flights per week from USA-Honolulu to Pago Pago), expensive (discouraging backpackers) and unspoiled by mass tourism (only one golf resort).  There are no traffic lights, no street signs (except for Government Housing in Tafuna village for palagi/white contractors), few paved sidewalks, and only one main road (ideal for mass transit). Most land is communally owned so homelessness is refreshingly almost non-existent for native American Samoans.  I also welcomed the humidity and rainy weather, as it’s been an unusually dry winter in San Francisco.

What does food culture have to do with aging?

I grew up in a food-obsessed household in Hawaii.  My immigrant parents, who grew up starving in China during the Second Sino-Japanese War, wanted to ensure that their American-born children were well-fed so I was stuffed with traditional Hawaiian staples like poi and laulau, as well as home-grown produce from our backyard and meals cooked from scratch.  Then for most of my adult working life, I was a road warrior, which meant my meals were often dining out with clients or take-out to do work in my hotel room.  After losing my job during the Great Recession, I decided to pursue my passion for do-it-yourself food – enrolling in permaculture, organic farming, cooking and nutrition classes – partly inspired by my grandfather who was a home gardener and restaurant chef-owner. 

While doing my nutrition internship at San Francisco Department of Aging and Adult Services (thanks Linda Lau, RD!), I became an advocate for the Elderly Nutrition Program to promote better health through food security and reduced isolation.  Congregate and home-delivered meals are also a wonderful opportunity to return to traditional foodways by creating menus using fresh, seasonal and local food sources that appeal to the diverse palates of seniors who grew up without modern conveniences (like processed fast food) so they recognize real food.  

Like Michael Pollan said in Food Rules, “Don't eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn't recognize as food.”

Why study aging in American Samoa?

As a full-time graduate gerontology student, my free time to travel is to the same gerontology-related meetings (ASA, GSA) attended by my SFSU professors and during winter break.  I visit my parents in Honolulu after the new year when President Obama and his entourage leave Oahu to avoid traffic jams.  

This year I decided to take my first trip to American Samoa, where elders continue to be revered despite modernization that brought American cash economy, television, cars and fast food.  According to the 2010 Census:

People 65 years of age or older . . . have grown to 4.1% of the population. Even though that has been a large increase, there are still relatively few elderly in American Samoa. For example, in the United States, the percentage of the population 65 and over is 13%.  As a matter of curiosity, there were 110 elderly that were at least 85 years old living in American Samoa in 2010.

As for the elderly, local health care is improving, but not any faster than local health levels are declining due to non-communicable diseases (NCD) and conditions, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, heart problems, dialysis, and the other negative consequences of modern changes in the American Samoa diet and activity levels.

Based on the 2010 Census, American Samoa’s population is 55,519, a decrease of 3.1% from 2000. 

Hope House at Fatu-O-Aiga (heart of the family), American Samoa’s first and only nursing home opened in 1987, houses only 10 seniors.  One local said they don’t need additional nursing beds because Samoans care for their own, especially elders at home.

Yet just over a year ago, the American Samoa Government (ASG) settled its first age discrimination suit involving a class of older workers who were allegedly forced into retirement or reassigned into undesirable positions to free slots for young people.  I wondered if this might indicate a shift in how American Samoan elders are treated?

Raised by a Tiger Mum, who regards every experience as educational, I did my homework before traveling to American Samoa.

I visited ASG Office in Honolulu to prepare for my trip.

Jessie and Diana of ASG presented me with 213–page Centennial Edition of American Samoa: 100 Years under the United States Flag, by J. Robert Shaffer (Honolulu: Island Heritage, 2000).  I later received another copy of this book from American Samoa's First Lady.

Obesity news

Last year, Samoa Air made international news for charging passengers airfares based on weight.

At Honolulu Airport gate waiting to board flight to Pago Pago (capital of American Samoa), CNN news coverage of food addiction’s contribution to obesity epidemic appeared on left video screen.

Then last summer, American Samoa made headlines for being the most overweight nation, while the American Medical Association officially recognized obesity as a disease despite concerns that using BMI measurement is controversial.  PETA recommended a plant-based diet to fight obesity.   

 

Hawaiian Airlines provided this dinner tray with portions that reminded me of a senior congregate meal.  However, to meet federal nutrition standards, replace at least ½ of white rice and bread roll with brown rice and whole wheat (more fiber); replace macadamia milk chocolate cluster with fresh fruit (avoid added sugars); and include vitamin D food.  During the flight, a passenger seated behind offered me his dinner tray, which made me wonder if I looked like I needed more food?

The day after I arrived, Samoa News reported that AS Governor Lolo Moliga appointed Obesity Task Force to curb growth of “national nemesis.”  I wondered whether any of the appointed Task Force members were gerontologists to address the needs of older adults. 

Ofeira Nu’usolia, recently retired Executive Director of Tafuna Health Center, was part of a research team that found obesity among American Samoans starts at birth. (Ofeira sits on Region IX Office on Women's Health Advisory Council with my SFSU Gerontology Professor Darlene Yee, who sent an email introduction so we could connect during my visit.)  Though obesity is established early in life and may be influenced by genetic predisposition and environments that encourage overeating, physical activity and healthy eating interventions can often reduce, but not completely overcome, the effects of genes. 

While obesity in young people is a risk factor for morbidity and mortality, the effect of obesity in older adults is more complex.  The obesity paradox in the elderly suggests fitness matters more than weight, finding that overweight and moderately obese patients with certain chronic diseases often live longer and fare better than normal-weight patients with the same diseases.

Homestay & Fa’a Samoa (Samoan Way)

For personal travel, I prefer staying with local families or in hostels.  National Park of American Samoa provides a list of homestay hosts (which included former deputy secretary of Samoan Affairs Nanai Afuola, whose recent death at age 80 made front page news the day after my arrival).  The objective of a homestay is to live as much like locals and foster more authentic people-to-people connections. 

Three generations under one roof: homestay host Alu (executive director of AmericanSamoa Alliance Against Domestic and Sexual Violence), her daughter (in Samoana High School uniform) and her Mama (visiting from Sydney).  Many American Samoan households are three-generation family units (aiga) headed by a chief (matai, over 90% are male) who represents the family on the village (nu'u) council (fono).

My homestay family members did not participate in traditional Sunday morning church service followed by lunch banquet (to'ona'i), nor observe evening prayers (sa).  There was no home cooking (which was a man's responsibility in traditional Samoa), but meals were take-out with leftovers for the next meal.  Alu and her Mama seemed more Australian, so I often relied on Alu’s intelligent daughter (who was raised in American Samoa since moving as a toddler from Australia) and other locals for a reality check.  After all, I didn’t want to be duped like Margaret Mead, according to New Zealand anthropologist Derek Freeman, who claimed her informants played a Samoan joke on her.

For example, one local told me that Samoan elders complain by crying until they get their way because a crying senior is like a curse.  According to this informant, two laid-off elders went to see the Governor, crying to get their jobs back so the Governor added them to his payroll; one elder has died since and “you always want to make a senior die happy.”  True?  (Stoic California Governor Jerry Brown would not be swayed by tears/curse, nor protests).

On a couple of evenings, Alu and Mama attended a widow support group led by a social worker trainee.  Alu explained that these meetings were helpful in unearthing individual feelings of grief since “I (the individual)” is subordinate to “we (the extended family)” in Samoan culture. 

Fa’a Samoa (Samoan Way) is illustrated in proverbs like o le ala I le pule le tautua (“the way to the family title is through loyal and faithful service to the family”).  In The Happy Isles of Oceania, Paul Theroux offered his criticism: “It seemed to be one of the oldest Samoan customs to victimize the person without a family, the individual, the outsider, the stranger, because it was a society where, if you had no family, you had no status.  Perhaps this was the reason they had achieved so little, either here or on the mainland.  They did not want to stand out.” 

As a gerontologist trained in the USA, I wondered about the relevancy of an ethical principle like respect for autonomy or self-determination in a communal society like American Samoa?  I thought about my own Chinese upbringing, in which a healthy individual would express feelings of grief in the appropriate context like loss of a loved one.  I also thought about Jehovah’s Witnesses who grieve over loss of loved ones yet maintain their Bible-based hope in the resurrection and living forever in Paradise on Earth.

 

Instead of going to church on Sunday morning, we relaxed at home, which was a great opportunity to hear more about Mama’s life story as a minister’s wife for 51 years in Western Samoa, New Zealand, Australia and American Samoa.  Mama showed me manuscript that she and Alu plan to publish about Papa’s ministry in New Zealand and Australia.

On a wet Sunday afternoon, we joined Rory West (educated at City College of San Francisco’s Environmental Horticulture Program) who operates North Shore Tours and Polynesian Herbs for sightseeing drive.

Breathtaking view of Pago Pago Harbor

 

American Samoa would be a beautiful and tranquil place to enjoy retirement, just listening to the trees grow! 

Pola Island is a protected seabird nesting area.

Later in the evening, Alu and I sat in on Mama’s Samoan language lessons to a woman who recently moved to American Samoa and now trying to learn the formal and ceremonial, as opposed to everyday and colloquial, Samoan speech.  Showing fa’aaloalo (respect) involves matching the formality of speech to the status of the person, with matai and ministers regarded as royalty.

Laughing Samoans

 

Joined Alu and her Mama to Laughing Samoans’ two-hour Fobulous show, which poked fun at aspects of Samoan culture, for $20 per adult ticket (no student discount available).

Samoan making wedding plans with palagi fiancé:  inviting village of 4,000 to wedding; imposing strict discipline (spare the rod, spoil the child) by knock-out instead of time-out (Samoans would never send a kid to room without eating dinner).  Alu told me she has never used corporal punishment, and I found her daughter remarkably self-disciplined (focused on studying for exams during my homestay visit, which would have distracted myself) and one of the most respectful teenagers I know.

Father and Son skit covered Samoan values of conservatism (no sleepovers, go to school for education not socialization) and modesty (cover up body when going to beach).

 

Elvis impersonator sang (in tune of Blue Suede Shoes) about going broke from fa’alavelave (obligation charged to family members to contribute toward events like weddings, graduations, funerals, church activities) to promote social harmony.  Alu’s Mama expressed her concern that this practice could be a financial burden: forget presents; just give me your presence.

Getting around

I prefer walking and mass transit, but went along on car rides because “when in American Samoa, do as the American Samoans do.”  The pervasive car culture enables a sedentary lifestyle, and I was struck by the near absence of pedestrians outside of Fagatogo village, the commercial and government hub on Pago Pago Harbor.

Tourist trap hotel car rental agency charged an exorbitant $80-90 per day, while gas price was about $4.13 per gallon.  I favored the local mass transit, colorful aiga buses, which run from sunrise to sunset, and will drop off passengers upon request in the absence of designated bus stops.  Since there really is only one main road, one can flag the bus (like a taxi) if there is no bus stop nearby to get picked up.  Cost was $2 for one-way fare for the scenic ride from Pago Pago to Tafuna (about 5 miles distance).

On this hard seat bus and against blasting music from the bus speakers, a uniformed student asked me, "Are you new?” I replied, “No, I’m old.” Giggles.  No seniors on this hard seated bus.

On this soft seat bus and a video playing, sat next to an older woman who asked to be dropped off at this Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

American Samoa’s motto is Muamua Le Atua (Let God Be First).  Ieova is Samoan for God’s name Jehovah.

Over half of reported injuries in American Samoa are attributed to dog bites, which interfere with a healthful lifestyle that includes walking and bicycling.  Outside Fagatogo, it was rare to see anyone walking outdoors; it seemed people hop in and out of cars to get around. 

Chicken of the road.  One Samoan explained that locals do not eat local chickens, which eat toads that are "so ugly." 

Opening of legislature

Legislators, which include two mature women, in front and CCJS Combined Choir in back

Preparing for Governor's arrival

Meeting TAOA

With time for only a one week trip to study aging in American Samoa, I decided to start with the State Unit on Aging.  Thanks to the Administration for Community Living’s Region IX Office based in San Francisco, I was introduced to the American Samoa Territorial Administration on Aging (TAOA).  According to its website: 

The Territorial Administration on Aging was established in 1974 during Governor Peter Tali Coleman's term in office. Delegate-at-large A.P. Lutali in Washington D.C. requested through U.S. Congress to have a program to help the seniors of American Samoa. Some of the people did not want such program, saying that it's a Welfare program and they didn't like to turn American Samoa into a Welfare State. Eventually, it was established as part of the Governor's Office and HC Pulefa'asisina B. Tuiasosopo as its manager. A TAOA staff was hired, Mr. Penei Sewell was its Director, and it became an ASG Agency.

TAOA is 100% federally funded through grants from U.S. Department of Human & Social Services and U.S. Department of Labor.

Mission Statement:  TAOA was established to serve the senior citizens of American Samoa through services funded by our two grantors - DHSS and DOL, as follows:  Senior Nutrition Program through Food Vouchers served to seniors 60 plus each month the employment program for those 55 years of age and older.

TAOA Social Services Manager Tafia Fiame Taimalelagi makes telephone calls to schedule appointments from her office.  In the Pacific islands (including my native Hawaii), the oral-aural tradition and face-to-face interaction is favored over written and electronic communication (American Samoa’s isolation makes its internet access the most expensive in America).  After all, there was no written language in Samoa until after the London Missionary Society arrived in 1830 and developed the Samoan alphabet in order to translate the Bible.

American Samoa’s only senior center looks over Pago Pago Harbor in Tsunami Hazard Zone.

This location near Pago Pago port is convenient for cruise ship passengers to shop at TAOA Handicraft Market.

 

Inside TAOA Handicraft Market, TAOA Secretary Tina handles sales of handicrafts made by seniors under Title V of the Older Americans Act.

 

Title V Manager Fanaufouina Solia displays more handicrafts in her office.  In addition to creating handicrafts, seniors also work in schools teaching Samoan language and culture.  

Seniors busy at work on handicrafts—baskets, mats—made from paogo (pandanus, official tree of American Samoa). 

TAOA Title III Manager Amiula Pola next to van (12 passenger seats, 2 wheelchairs) used to escort seniors to hospital, Social Security/bank offices, post office, etc. 

Tafia picks up copy of Governor’s 64-page State of the Territory Address from Governor's Executive Assistant Iulogologo Joseph Pereira in Executive Office Building. Governor's Address states, "We owe a debt of gratitude to our senior citizens for we are benefitting from their hard work," and highlights ASG contributing local funds to increase services to seniors; activities planned during Senior Citizen Month in May; transportation services; intergenerational programs with Department of Education (employing seniors as mentors to students) and Museum Director (seniors teach indigenous arts and craft to young). 

My trip coincided with TAOA’s plans to transition its food vouchers to a congregate and home-delivered meals program under Title III of the Older Americans Act.  As a foodie, I was thrilled so I went along for the ride (nearly 55 square miles of scenic Tutuila) with Finance Manager Sam Kupa and Social Services Manager Tafia to meet food vendors. 

Driving over potholes and puddles on the road can be rough.  Governor's Address also mentioned intention to continue road repair projects as funding becomes available.

Samoans take great pride in caring for their own, and adapt welfare programs to the Samoan Way, which involves “sharing” government benefits (WIC, NAP) with aiga (extended family).  In a communal society, even social security benefits and food vouchers intended for seniors apparently are “shared” with family members.  TAOA Director Ale Tifimalae said that this problem surfaced when TAOA staff made home visits to home-bound seniors, and his office was looking at solutions to end this abuse by family members of seniors.  One solution is the transition to congregate meals program, where seniors dine in-person so TAOA can be assured that seniors benefit from nutritious meals as well as socialization.

TAOA staff in front of fale.

Respect for dead

Graves of dead ancestors, rather than food, are planted in front gardens. 

Sarcophagus lies next to house. 

Island Funeral displays variety of caskets. 

Chapel at LBJ Tropical Medical Center, American Samoa’s only hospital.  While making my way to restroom, I found morgue with chapel.  Samoans will drop everything to visit dying relative’s body while still warm.

Food desert

There's a joke about a Samoan's favorite food is all-you-can-eat! Well, I could find only one restaurant that offered all-you-can eat, on Friday nights only.

 

In 1830, John Williams (statue in Leone) of London Missionary Society arrived in Samoa to introduce Christianity and trade of foodstuffs began.  Modernization has fueled population growth and imported food.  Today, people in American Samoa depend on imports for 95% of their food, and this increasing reliance on imported canned/frozen/processed foods with longer shelf life has contributed to a deterioration of their diets.  

Fast food in Tafuna village.  Fast foods and other nutrition-deficient meals provide calories (energy), but leave one malnourished, tired and hungry, which can lead to overeating and weight gain.  By adopting the Standard American Diet (SAD), American Samoa has experienced a growing prevalence of obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension and other chronic conditions.

When Paul Theroux published The Happy Isles of Oceania in 1992, he wrote rather contemptuously about American-style consumption:  “Greedy, wasteful, profligate, and proprietorial, American Samoans are living on large handouts, forever pushing supermarket shopping carts full of junk food, packages and cans, the Cheez Ball diet of fat-bellied Polynesia—seedy prosperity.”

 

Traditional Samoan diet included fresh fish gathered from the reef by women, while modern diet is canned fish.  In 1963, Starkist opened its tuna cannery plant in American Samoa, and employs a workforce of 2,000 mostly from independent Samoa.  About 40% of all U.S. exposure to mercury comes from eating contaminated tuna from the Pacific, which is associated with brain and nervous system disorders.  It is safer to eat canned light (smaller skipjack tuna) than canned white (albacore), which is a larger predatory fish that accumulates higher concentrations of mercury. 

Panikeke (pancake donuts) sold six for dollar (Fagatogo Market).  Falaoa (flour) introduced by 19^th century traders.

 

Dozen local eggs (from toad-fed chickens?) cost dollar more than eggs from California due to monopoly as one local explained that Samoans don’t like competition due to dominant sharing culture.

 

Turkey tail was banned for awhile (2007-2013) in neighboring independent Samoa, as public health measure but found to violate WTO rules.

Sticker shock:  fruit prices

 

Sticker shock:  vegetable prices

 

Samoan-Chinese 3-item lunch (Sunny’s) 

Filipino chicken adobo and green bananas plate for $4 (Pinoy)

Traditional foods

American Samoa’s first and only Registered Dietitian, Ianeta Ah Ping, Manager of Dietary Services at LBJ Tropical Medical Center.

 

American Samoa is mountainous with less than 10% of its land suitable for agriculture. I mostly saw growing around the island: tropical trees (breadfruit, coconut, mango, noni, papaya), green bananas, and root crops (taro, yam).  To address the obesity epidemic and food security via intergenerational programs that involve all ages in the physical activity of growing their own food would be awesome! There are a variety of vegetables that grow well in tropical climates like American Samoa.  Grow food, not lawns!

Tapwater must be filtered or disinfected (boiled) before drinking; bottled water is common.

 

Kava is the root of the pepper plant, used ceremonially (mildly narcotic drink) and medicinally (sedative, muscle relaxant, remedy for nervousness and insomnia) for over 3,000 years by Polynesians. After unsuccessful attempts to find locally produced ‘ava, I ended up purchasing packets made from Fiji and independent Samoa. Samoan noni juice is also from independent Samoa.  Samoan koko (cocoa) is sold in blocks packaged in styrofoam cup.

Samoan food plate (Louise Grocery Market aka Charlie Block)

My favorite: palusami made from taro leaves, onions and coconut cream (Louise Grocery Market) 

Sua fa’i is warm breakfast porridge made from banana, tapioca and coconut milk (Milovales) 

Farewell congregate lunch plate—poke (cubed raw tuna marinated in sea salt, soy sauce, onions, chili peppers), sapa sui (Chinese bean noodle with mixed veggies), umu roasted pork, palusami, chicken, taro in coconut milk, breadfruit, and raw greens with carrots salad in center—deliciously prepared by TAOA staff, who should be in the catering business! “Ta’u valea pe a le lava mea’ai” is the Samoan phrase meaning that it’s embarrassing not to have enough food for a special event or occasion, so I shared some chicken – in the Samoan tradition of sharing – and wrapped up leftovers for my supper.

Tafia presented me with surprise (!) puletasi in fabric matching hers.  After my non-stop eating, I could not fit blouse and fortunately the skirt had an elastic waist! American Samoan seal carved into wood by Title V senior.

First Lady’s passion for seniors

At the top of “20 things to do in American Samoa” is take a tour of Maugaoali'i Government House, or the official residence of the Governor and First Lady.  First Lady Cynthia Moliga and Resident Manager Teuila Love were so welcoming that I visited the Government House twice!

My first visit was with my homestay host Alu, who said she worked with “Cindy” at Department of Human and Social Services, and now they are both active members of American Samoa Organization on Aging (ASOA).  In the library, there is a sign that reads “aroha – where there is love, there is life” – which Alu’s Mama liked to quote. During the tour, the First Lady highlighted photos from last May's first-ever luncheon honoring seniors at the Government House on American Samoa Senior Citizens Day, and photos from last month’s Special Olympics in Australia, where American Samoa’s 12-member team took home 10 medals! We were treated to cookies and truffles, and given 2014 Calendars from American Samoa Historic Preservation Office.

My second visit took place on my last day, when I enjoyed an hour-long meeting with the First Lady who spoke like a fellow gerontologist, covering an impressive range of topics from grandparents caring for grandchildren (she has two grandchildren), home visits to isolated seniors, elder abuse prevention, hospice care and the overall need for more senior services.  I wish our U.S. First Lady paid as much attention to seniors as to her Let's Move campaign targeting obese kids.  We were treated to sandwiches and fries, and I received an autographed copy of the book, American Samoa: 100 Years Under the United States Flag.

With TAOA Finance Manager Sam, First Lady Moliga and TAOA Social Services Manager Tafia.  Like the Sesame Street Song:

One of these things is not like Samoans,
One of these things just doesn't belong,
Can you tell which thing is not like the others
By the time I finish my song?

I'm the smiley American flashing my teeth while others strike passport-like facial expressions.  


The future

As far as I could tell, American Samoan seniors have wide faces with room for dental arches, indicating good nutrition by their parents.  In Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, dentist Weston A. Price traveled the world in the 1930s to study teeth and the health of “primitive” people:  those who ate “modern” refined and processed foods (white flour, sugar, canned foods, other denatured foods that remove essential nutrients) had decayed teeth and deformed dental arches; those who ate ancestral foods (natural, whole foods) had near perfect teeth.  He found that it took only one generation of poor eating to destroy a family heritage of perfect teeth and bone structure, jaw structure, jaw alignment and dental arches.  Check out the website http://www.westonaprice.org/nutrition-greats/weston-price for copyrighted photos comparing the perfect teeth of a Samoan boy born to parents who ate nutrient-rich native foods, and the crowded dental arches of a Samoan boy born to parents who ate “modern” foods.

Almost ten years ago, gerontologists projected that due to the rapid rise of childhood obesity, the current generation of children could be the first, in the history of the United States, to live less healthful and shorter lives than their parents.  This suggests that the younger generation can learn from the experiences of older adults. (I was surprised to learn that American Samoa’s School Lunch Program is not subject to the same nutrition requirements as National School Lunch Program, though both are funded by USDA.)  I am encouraged that TAOA is transitioning to a culturally appropriate congregate and home-delivered meals program (which is subject to nutritional standards) to promote the health, safety and well-being of seniors in American Samoa.

In American Samoa TAOA, I enjoyed observing the seniors weaving their mats while socializing at their senior center, admired their handicrafts (baskets, coconut shell bowls, wood carvings, etc.) at the store, and appreciated learning that they are teaching these traditional craft skills to schoolchildren.  Though I’m not a bingo fan, American Samoan seniors like to play bingo, which is a form of fundraising to build church halls.  I was impressed by the First Lady’s informed and passionate commitment to advocate on behalf of American Samoan seniors, amazed by the power of crying seniors to get what they want, and the respect accorded to them.

Senior role model: Tafia is also known as American Samoa’s “own Elizabeth Taylor," an actress currently working on her fourth feature film.  Tafia holds up DVD of "Heart to Heart," the first feature film written, directed and cast by natives of American Samoa and filmed on site!

Tafia’s Leone house, damaged in 2009 tsunami, not habitable but still standing tall.

No, this is not a photo of American Samoa, but Waikiki (Honolulu) before it became overrun with tourist development.  American Samoa has avoided thus far, the fate of Hawaii's shameless sell-out because American Samoa's land tenure system is permitted to discriminate by restricting individual land ownership to persons who are at least 50% Samoan ancestry, so it remains for livable for locals.

As I reflect on my one week in American Samoa, I thought about how much this experience reminded me of my own upbringing raised in a three-generation household where my grandparents rocked and ruled:  the emphasis on family, food, village (my family belonged to Lung Doo Benevolent Society, where I called thousands of members my aunt, uncle, or cousin!), food, education, food, proper behavior, food, etc.  Sharing food builds relationships and respect, so no such thing as Michelle Obama’s eat before you come to my party because it’s all about us (not just you) so it's “our” party, too! And we'll cry if there's no food (American Samoan senior curse)!

Today begins Chinese New Year’s.  When my grandparents were still alive, I remember getting up early on Chinese New Year’s to serve my grandparents tea and a tray of assorted dried fruits, with the cheerful greeting, Gung hay (wish you happiness) fat choy (increased prosperity)!  In exchange, my grandparents handed me lai see (money in red envelope) which I then “shared” with my parents. (Tray of togetherness exhibit from Hawaii State Library)