Mia Kami is a Tongan singer/songwriter based in Suva, Fiji,
She penned the song Rooted “as an anthem of hope for the Pacific and its peoples. The song received a standing ovation at the recent 7th Our Ocean Conference in Palau.
“I’m not a scientist instead I am a storyteller. Like my ancestors before me, our stories speak of ancestral connections to land and to the ocean. Who we are is in the depth of the Moana and the depths of the Moana rise up to the surface and wash up on our shores for our future generations to discover. If we fail to protect our oceans, we are failing to preserve our people, our culture, and our identity and we are watching everything unfold. The sea levels are rising, the ocean is getting warmer, cyclone after cyclone, more frequent and more severe. Every natural disaster gets worse for us. You are here as leaders and it is your responsibility to ensure that you leave the healthiest ocean possible.”
