She faced a few challenges, though. English is her second language.

Sepiuta Skudder had never had a licence or even driven a car.

Her husband or one of the children always drove her around Auckland. She didn't know much about the Road Code.

She hadn't had much formal education either.

Skudder grew up in Tonga and left school when she was eight to help support the family by cooking and cleaning while her siblings and parents worked on a plantation.

Studying and learning the Road Code in English and the tough questions in Tongan was not an easy task.

But last week, the day before her 78th birthday, Skudder passed her Learner's test with a 100 per cent score.

She is now just one test away from a restricted driver's licence and the freedom to drive when and where she wants.

"I was happy with myself when I pass the test," she says.

"I still have to have my daughter in the car as a learner driver but I will go for my restricted licence in May and then I will be able to drive to my church meetings and to visit my husband at the cemetery when I want and not have to bother the children or grandchildren."

Skudder, her husband and three children migrated to Aotearoa from Tonga in 1970.

For the next 50-plus years they set up the family home in Mangere, raising five children.

Her husband died in 2021.

Mourning him, his funeral and his unveiling occupied her for the first two years.

Skudder realised she needed to become more independent when she was voted into a leadership position in the Tongan Catholic Church in Mangere.

"Because Mum was voted leader of the Legion of Mary group, they travel to different homes for prayer nights each week," her daughter Ella Skudder says.

Sepiuta Skudder enrolled in the Manukau Urban Maori Authority (MUMA) Drivers Licensing Programme.

The Ministry of Social Development course has helped hundreds of Maori, Pasifika and Pakeha get licences.

The course offers a multilingual approach, enabling Skudder to study in English and Tongan.

Ella accompanied her mother to the classes, and the pair would go through each session reviewing the questions Skudder got wrong.

She scored 15 out of 50 on her first test, then 24 out of 50 on the second.

"I come home and study my mistake (sic) and I tried and tried and see where I went wrong," she says.

"The next day we went and we test again and the last day, I got them all right and got my learner's licence.

"I'm so happy."

As MUMA CEO Tania Rangiheuea says, "is not just a driver's licence but a passport to life,"

Source

• NZ Herald

Aside from the number of pilgrims that attended, the miracle was the beautiful cloudy day sandwiched in between two days of wet weather that saw the pilgrims journey from one church to another visiting sacred sites associated with our Blessed Mother.

The Family pilgrimage began with 8:30 am mass celebrated by parish priest Fr. James Lyons at the Sacred Heart Cathedral. This was followed by a trip to the Our Lady of Fatima Church at Tawa where the pilgrims received a blessing from Fr. Marlon Tebelin, the new Filipino chaplain. From there, the pilgrims journeyed to the statue of Our Lady of Kapiti at Paraparaumu, then to the Our Lady of Fatima Church in Waikanae. The pilgrimage culminated with lunch and a visit to the historical St. Mary's Church in Otaki where children led in Pope John Paul II's Prayer for the Family.

At each sacred site, a decade of the Joyful Mystery of the Rosary was prayed corresponding to a particular intention: (1) For Men and women and young people to discover their true identity and dignity in Christ; (2) For human life to be respected from conception up to natural death; (3) For an increase in marriage, priestly and religious vocations; (4) For love and unity in the family, and for an increase in the number of Christian families living and passing on the Christian faith; and (5) For support for the weak, the elderly and those marginalised in society

The scripture that served as inspiration for the Family Pilgrimage was the Wedding at Cana from the Gospel of John, where Jesus turned water into wine for the newly married couple at the request of His mother—though his "hour" had not yet come (John 2:1-12). It shows the powerful intercession of our Blessed Mother and her maternal care for families.

The Family Pilgrimage was organised by the Legion of Mary and the Centre for Marriage and Family (CMF). It is an offshoot of the Pilgrimage to the National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, Auckland that was held at the end of September and early October last year, to commemorate the 100^th anniversary of the apparitions of Our Lady at Fatima.

Source

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