My father was a fluent Tongan speaker and helped his kāinga where he could. He also helped his Fijian family members—him and my mum based in Auckland. You see, that was all in the mix of his village concept. No one was ever turned away. Although our mother spoke little English, us kids—we were the interpreters. Our parents protected us by ensuring our daily needs were cared for. They both worked hard—up to three jobs weekly—and sacrificed much for us kids. But we were expected to help out. Some troubled youth from our local church families came to live with us, and my mother's instructions were to care for them. Those were the lessons my siblings and I learnt: to care for one another, to serve our community with the best resources we had at that time. 