by Javiera Alarcón
María Irma Paoa Tuki, affectionately known as “Irma”, was born on November 3rd 1963 in Hanga Roa. She is the daughter of Sergio Enrique Paoa Pate and Flora Tuki Pakarati. Irma is one of seven children of the Paoa Tuki family, who lived in the Tu’u Koihu sector. Her father, who is 87 years old, still lives in the area where she grew up. Her mother, however, died young, leaving a void that is still felt in Irma’s heart today. “I miss her,” she confesses with the simplicity of someone who has learned to live with that absence. Irma’s father started working at the age of 13 to help his sisters. His first job was at the Williamson Balfour Company, then he worked in fishing and later at the Hanga Roa hospital with his wife. Son of Simón Paoa Bornier, who was an outstanding volunteer of the Air Force.
At the age of 6, Irma was temporarily left in the care of her aunt and uncle in La Perousse area to ease the burden of family raising during the week. Although the separation was hard for her, Irma is grateful and remembers that she lived in a Rapa Nui very different from the current one, a place where modernity arrived in trickles and families came together to enjoy. She remembers with nostalgia the day when the first television arrived in 1977, thanks to the participation of a Rapa Nui woman in the Miss Chile beauty contest, who asked Pinochet for the donation of a television set for the community. It was an extraordinary event for the inhabitants of the island. Although not every family could afford one, the television became a meeting point in the homes of those who did have one. “At six o’clock in the evening we would all go to my dad’s sister’s house to watch TV, especially to wath the news that came on 60 Minutes tapes. It was impressive for us”.
The experience of watching television was something new and exciting, especially for the children, who gathered enthusiastically to watch the animated programs. It was a luxury, a window to the outside world that the island was just beginning to explore in those years, Irma tells us. She also fondly remembers the stories told by her aunt Carmen Tuki Pakarati, who would teach them stories of the island, such as the Tanga a Uta, and the children would gather with great excitement to listen to them. In those days, toys were scarce, but that did not stop the children from enjoying and having fun. She recalls how they played Marbles made of green guavas and used sticks from the miro tahiti tree to make toy horses. “There were no toys, so we made them ourselves,” she says. Despite the lack of goods, the children’s creativity and imagination flourished, turning any everyday object into an element of entertainment.
Irma also recalls her school life, marked by the limitations and challenges of being a Rapa Nui girl, at a time when the local culture was not valued. “They made fun of us, in those years we did not know what bullying was, calling us Indians, they treated us badly”, she tells us that those little ones, who from their ignorance looked down on their classmates, were mainly children of Chilean civil servants installed in the territory, such as Police, FACH and marines, for example. “They punished us for speaking Rapa Nui at school” she recalls with sadness, despite this, her family kept the language alive at home, making sure she never forgot it. The school, in those years, offered only up to second grade, which limited the educational opportunities for the island’s youth. “Until the 1980s, there was no third or fourth grade, so many like me left school without completing a full education,” she says. Despite the difficulties, Irma has positive memories of her school life, especially the sports activities. One of the most significant influences on Irma’s youth was the arrival of the Arévalo couple, who brought the CENDYR sports program to the island.
Under her tutelage, young Rapanui began to practice a variety of sports, such as basketball, tennis, trampoline jumping, handball, and rhythmic gymnastics. “I loved playing basketball, it was my forte, I learned all kinds of sports” says Irma, fondly recalling the games and championships that were organized on the island. Back then there were not many opportunities to compete outside the island as there are today, the enthusiasm for these activities was palpable among young people. Irma continued to be active in sports until a few years ago, standing out for her performance in volleyball until an injury forced her to quit, “I had to stop playing in 2017 because of a discomfort when receiving a spike”, however her passion for the sport is still alive in her memories.
Irma married Mario Araki Tepano. Mario, was in the army in Santiago after returning to the island in 1982, began dating Irma, and in 1983, when Irma was 20 years old, she became pregnant with her first child. “When I got pregnant, it was already clear to me that I wanted to start a family,” Irma says with a smile. Irma had three sons: the oldest, who is about to turn 41, the middle one, who is 34, and the youngest, who is 31. The arrival of her children brought many joys and challenges. Irma has a deep love for her children and is proud of them, “They were never naughty,” she says fondly. Irma and Mario got married in church in 1990, when their middle child was only six months old. “We didn’t actually do the civil ceremony at that time,” Irma recalls. However, after the pandemic, they found the opportunity to formalize their marriage by civil ceremony “we didn’t do a big celebration, but we formally got married by civil ceremony” she explains. Irma has maintained a positive attitude and has been a key figure in her children’s lives. Now, at 61, she looks forward to celebrating her birthday in November with her family, enjoying life and the fruits of her work and dedication.
Irma proudly shares with us the family tradition of curanto that her mother started more than 30 years ago. This religious curanto, known as the “Immaculate heart of mary”. “It began in the sector of the current high school Aldea Educativa, at that time where the sick and the people who cared for them lived”. Her mother inaugurated it next to a small grotto dedicated to the Virgin Mary, “My mother organized it with my father and other relatives, many people arrived on foot and on horseback”, Irma says. Since then, every year the family has kept the tradition alive, moving the event to her father’s house when her mother became ill and passed away in 1995. Besides this act of faith, the curanto has become an important religious and community celebration, organized by Irma and her siblings, being an event awaited by the inhabitants of the island every June. Despite the difficulties they faced during the pandemic, which forced them to modify their customs by delivering the food Raw, they have always sought ways to continue this legacy.
In addition to being a mother and grandmother, Irma feels fulfilled in her work as a food handler in which she has been working for more than 13 years, contributing with her dedication in different educational establishments on the island, currently from a kindergarten. “I love my job. I have worked in several schools and kindergartens, and I love cooking for the children, it is beautiful to deliver that” she explains excitedly. “I work with love and passion. I love being in contact with people and seeing the smile on the children’s faces when I prepare their food” says Irma. Cooking has always been one of her passions. “Since I was young, I have loved to cook. I am quick at what I do and I really enjoy preparing” she adds. “The white uniform is something I have always worn with pride. It is important for me to be clean and well presented in my work, one goes to work well presented” concludes Irma, showing her dedication and love for what she does. It seems to us that she inherited this talent from her mother Flora, because during the interview she often mentioned to us how she always saw in her generosity ,through a stove and a pot lit for all the children, cousins or nephews who came to her house, a common pot for whoever wanted and desired a plate of food.
The interview with Mrs. Irma reveals a life full of dedication, love for her family and passion for her work. Irma is currently the representative of her family’s hōnui, the Paoa, to whom she brings information and together they agree on decisions about important issues on the island. For her, “the future should be much better”, she is concerned about the environment, promotes recycling, and is concerned about the saturation of garbage and automobiles on the island. We reached her thanks to young people who wanted us to interview her, because they considered that she has given a lot for the people, being a very generous and unknown person.
