LaPaMasa
Few people outside of the Solomon Islands have heard of Gizo. For me and my family, it is home. My Grandmother loved Gizo immensely and made it so we did too. She built a house for us to go back to and stay comfortably, on an island where comfort can be a luxury. In her later years living with dementia, she had trouble recognising faces but remembered Gizo vividly. “That’s my island, it’s very beautiful there” she would say as she pointed out over the Welsh country side where I saw her last. “Which one are you from?” We were a long way from any ocean, but for her, we were back home; sitting on the shore. “La pa Masa” - “I’m going to the shore”