The other morning I woke up and on my list of (many) things to do, I decided to add ‘Shut down blog’ on the list.

For those who read this or receive email alerts, you will know I haven’t posted anything on here for a long time. Three years? Or is it four?

Either way, I think this means that this little place on the web is now defunct.

I remember when I started this blog. I set out wanting to better understand my culture, to feel connected to a part of my identity that I didn’t think I understood. I wanted to learn more about Kiribati. Not just about climate change and but Kiribati, the land, ocean, cultures, customs, family. But more deeply, and perhaps something I couldn’t articulate at the time – I wanted to know who I was and where I belonged.

I started this blog in 2010 while living in a small flat in London. I remember googling ‘how to start a blog’.

Now, in 2022, I am now living in regional Victoria with my partner and our two beautiful daughters. My life is full of Kiribati culture while being part of the Kiribati diaspora. I have my book Teaote and the Wall still selling and living a life of its own, I am one of the founding members of the Pasifika Storytellers Collective, I am part of the Victorian Kiribati Association Committee and am currently working on a digital ‘adventure’ called The Flying Canoe that takes people on a Kiribati adventure from their own homes. Most of importantly, I try and pass on my culture to my two children by telling Kiribati stories and speaking I-Kiribati at home.

I am still – will forever be – on the life long quest to hold and carry my culture in the best way I know how.

So why am I writing here now?

Well….after coming back to this website and scrolling through past blog posts….I just couldn’t say goodbye. This place held my culture for me and supported me on my journey. It was my guide urging me onwards. It sparked my career as a writer and set me off on a life trajectory that I am so grateful for.

I have made the decision to say goodbye to this blog but not shut it down. It will stay here to hold the stories I told for many years. But I won’t be writing here anymore. Don’t get me wrong, I have deleted posts that embarrass me and make me physically cringe. Terrible writing and phrasing aside, there are stories in here that I’m proud of having told. These stories share my journey and share my culture in a way that reflects me at the time…it is all here for you to view.

For those people who have come here wanting to explore Kiribati culture, please feel free to scan through these stories. For Kiribati people – especially those living away from Kiribati and wanting to connect deeper to their own culture – please see this as one way of finding your own culture. I encourage you to find your own way of holding our wonderful, magnificent and fascinating culture.

If you want to get in touch, please feel free to reach me at maritarose.davies@gmail.com

You are also welcome to go to my website maritadavies.com.au to see what I am currently up to. You can also purchase copies of Teaote and the Wall from my website.

You can also explore The Flying Canoe here.

For all those have been in touch, who I have worked with and supported The Little Island That Could, thankyou. Thankyou for the journey.

Te mauri, te raoi, au te tobomoa.

Tiabo

Nei Marita