What We Made Possible

022. Healing Tides x MAFANA: Lessons From Tongan Mothers and Ancestral Roots

• Patricia Dayleg • Season 1 • Episode 22

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On today’s episode, we get to the heart of healing, resilience, and the radical warmth needed to build community that lasts. I sit down with Phyllis Ngauamo and ‘Ainise Isama’u, the powerhouse duo behind MĀFANA—a space where Tongan culture, ancestral wisdom, and advocacy come together to create real-world impact across generations.

We talk about what it’s like to find yourself doing work your younger self never imagined: preserving traditions, teaching language classes, hosting rituals, and turning deep losses into renewed purpose. Phyllis and ‘Ainise open up about their journeys as daughters of pastors, navigating the strong tides of grief, and the extraordinary blueprints their mothers handed down. These models that remind us care and hospitality are both cultural values and powerful leadership tools.

We explore what it means to stay rooted to community when healing feels messy and nonlinear. MĀFANA, which literally means “warmth,” is a living, evolving invitation: how can we remember and reclaim what’s been handed down, even as we grieve, adapt, and dream new dreams into existence?

If you’ve ever felt alone in your own transitions, or wondered how healing might move through you and outward into your people, this conversation is for you. I invite you to listen for what resonates, and consider: who are you carrying with you as you lead? What might it look like to give yourself radical grace as you move forward?

Tune in to hear how turning pain into purpose, and remembrance into action, can light the path not just for ourselves, but for whole communities.

 

About Our Guests:

Ainise K. Isamau is the Executive Director of MĀFANA, where strategy meets soul. She leads with vision, builds bridges across communities, and champions the voices of Pacific Islanders from the local to national stage. With a heart for advocacy and a knack for turning big dreams into real-world impact, Ainise blends faith, leadership, and aloha spirit to keep MĀFANA moving forward — one inspired conversation at a time.

Phyllis Ngauamo is a single mother, a caregiver, program director of MĀFANA, where strategy meets soul. 



Where to find MĀFANA:
Website: https://www.mafana.org/