Her name!

If you are wondering... well

- Hnaithingö is my mother's first name in Drehu, which is her native dialect;

- Whai Te Oranga Tonu Tanga means Search for Eternal Life in Maori, Rika's native tongue.

I am from Lifou, one of the loyalty islands of New Caledonia, but I grew up in Nouméa and Rika is Maori from Miti Miti and Mangamoka who grew up in Auckland.

We both decided that we were going to give her a name that would tell her and everyone of her cultural heritage and identity. Rika and I are both really attached and proud of our cultural and divine identity and so that's how we came up with my mom's first name in Drehu and a Maori name that would tell her why she is here on earth.

Anyways, many of my friends ask "How is she gonna work out her name at school?", to tell you the truth, she's only 3 years old, but she knows that her name is either "Hnai" or "Whai".

She responds to both but I think she likes "Wha Whai" and she makes sure people call her that:)

As for school, well she'll simply be called by her first name which is Hnaithingö Hotere.

There's a joke I always say to people when I give Hnai's full name and their face goes "What a heck!!!", I usually go "well, we wanted to make sure that only the persistant ones will date our girl... by the time she's ready to date, we'll ask her dates to know her full name if they want to go out with her, lol...taugh job aye!!!"