Lotu Moui Fairies

Published: 24 June 2013

This week Pacific Heartbeat catches up with Samoan born, Krystal Oriana Atoa-Lavea and Leuluaipouomalo Teresa Leiataua-Atoa (Teresa) - two colourful characters who attended a Pacific Heartbeat (PHB) 2-day Community Nutrition Course (CNC).

Left to right: Teresa Leiataua-Atoa, PHB Nutritionist Sue Pirrit, and Krystal Oriana Atoa-Lavea

We’ve dubbed Teresa and Krystal the Lotu Moui Good Fairies as we met up with them again at the Lotu Moui, Mother’s Evening in May where they were dressed as pink fairies in recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness month.

There we got to hear about all the awesome work they’ve been doing in Manurewa, South Auckland, at the First Samoan Full Gospel Pentecostal Church. After completing the CNC, Teresa and Krystal ran a one-day ‘Better Choice Workshop’ for their fellow parishioners with support from their Pastor, Albert Atoa.

They took out information from the CNC course that they felt was ‘important for our church’ said Teresa. As well as breaking the parishioners into four teams to prepare healthy breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner, they also covered topics such as: Nutrition & Health, Portion Control, The Four Food Groups, Food Label Reading and Menu Planning.

They used resources such as the PHB Fat Kit and utilised the CNC Manual for information and planning of the sessions. They also shared the new recipes they had learnt at the CNC. 

Teresa said the reason they wanted to run the Better Choice Workshop was because they are aware that “to live a healthier life we need to make better choices of the food we eat. It was vital that our church addressed the ‘food’ side of our Lotu Moui Church Programme as we already had a positive start in our physical activities for the year."

The two recognised the fact that between work, family and church commitments many families don’t have a lot of time for cooking and often choose take away food instead.

Krystal and Teresa shared other ways of preparing food for busy families, such as using a slow cooker and discussed healthier options that are available at Fast Food outlets.

Great stuff Krystal and Teresa. Keep up the good work.

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