There are fewer women in politics in the Pacific Islands than in any other part of the world, according to UN Women. But this year Samoa elected a woman as its head of government – only the second Pacific Island nation to do so – thanks in part to a network of women friends who supported her every step of the way.
“This is the margarita circle,” the first woman prime minister of Samoa says, raising a salt-rimmed cup. “It’s a place for honest confessions.”
Her friends raise their glasses.
“Manuia!” they reply – “Cheers!”
It’s a Sunday afternoon and a group of around 10 have just left the village church to gather for a buffet lunch on the veranda of Fiame Naomi Mata’afa’s family home in Lotofaga village.
Behind them, the clear South Pacific ocean twinkles just beyond a strip of white sand.
“Do you remember how this particular journey started for us?” asks Tauiliili Alise Stunnenberg, an independent tourism consultant and Fiame’s distant cousin.
“It was just over a year ago,” replies the prime minister, “the day after I resigned.”
