Our Patron
Head of State of Samoa His Highness Tui Atua Tupua Tamasese
Tupua Tamasese Tupuola Tufuga Efi, also known as Tuiatua Tupua Tamasese Efi and formerly known as Tupuola Efi, (born March 1, 1938 at Moto'otua in Samoa) is a former Prime Minister of Samoa, serving two terms, and the current head of state of Samoa.
On 16 June 2007 he was elected as O le Ao o le Malo, Samoa's head of state, for a five-year term. He was officially sworn in as O le Ao o le Malo at Samoa's Parliament (Fono) on 20 June 2007.
He is a member of one of the paramount Families of Samoa (Aiga Tupu) where he holds the Tupua title of the Sa Tupua 'royal' family. He also holds the Tama-a-Aiga Tamasese title and the title of Tui Atua Fa'asavali of the junior line of the Tui Atua. Tui Atua Fa'asavali first entered parliament and became Prime Minister under the title Tupuola Efi.
His message to you.
Dear friends,
The goal of The New Zealand Good Samaritan Heart Mission to Samoa Trust is simple: To help Samoa’s poor with serious heart problems get surgical help. The road to achieving that goal is, however, not so simple.
Samoa is humbled by and forever grateful for the support that people from all over the world has given during our times of need. Our relationship with New Zealand and Australia is especially close. We share many things in common: from rugby and netball through to the Pacific Ocean and genealogy. As peoples of the Pacific we share a love and respect for the environment, for history and for life. And, as humans, we can share in something more basic: we can share in that feeling of happiness and contentment when we perform out of love a simple act of kindness.
When approached to be the patron of this Trust, I was taken by their name. The parable of the Good Samaritan is well-known throughout Samoa. In the Bible, the story is given as an answer to a lawyer’s question: who is my neighbour? This lawyer wanted Jesus to clarify his advice that one should love his neighbour as himself. It is with sadness that we have to admit that we live in a world today where the simplest act of compassion, the act of responding to a cry for help, is so burdened by suspicion, mistrust or fear that we find ourselves unable to help both ourselves and our neighbours. It is no crime to ask for help. Nor is it a crime to receive and give help. True help comes from the heart, motivated by the soul, enacted through the body and the mind. True help seeks no reward or payment. The mission of The New Zealand
Good Samaritan Heart Mission to Samoa Trust can only be fulfilled if those who give and those who receive are of true hearts.
The Trust was formed out of two visits by open heart surgery teams from New Zealand to Samoa in 2007 and 2008. These visits gave, for the first time in Samoa, just over twenty patients with heart disease, life-saving operations. These Samoans could never have afforded the cost associated with accessing such help. They have been given a second chance at living a full and healthy life.
Some of us have been blessed with opportunity, wealth and fortune, more so than others. For many of us help is only a phone call away. In that phone call we can make a positive difference to the lives of many. Supporting a cause that can change lives for the better must hold no price tag, nor set down a time frame for when kindness should be received. To help oneself and one’s neighbour is a decision that only those giving and those receiving can make. The message of the parable of the Good Samaritan is that love is no less love; or compassion no less compassion because of the status of who is giving or receiving.
As Patron of this Trust, I thank all the members and supporters of the Trust, the Doctors and Clinicians, the Trustees and organisers of the many events needed to make the Trust work. I am grateful to each and every one of you for your true hearts in this campaign and urge you to remember the Good Samaritan whenever the going gets a bit tough. I thank each and every contributor, funder or sponsor for your kindness. I pray that the Lord will bless each and every one of you for all the good that you do for yourselves and your neighbours. I know that the recipients of your help, their families and loved ones, will be eternally grateful.
God bless.
Tui Atua Tupua Tamasese
