WELCOME!

My name is Fiaailetoa Ken Moala, I am a Pacific /Samoan Elder and Matai. I would like to welcome you one and all to this Pacific Forum.Noa'ia, Mauri, Ni Sa Bula Vinaka, Fakaalofa lahi atu, Tālofa, Kia orana, Mālō e lelei, Mālō nī, Talofa lava, Tēnā koutou katoa and warm Pacific greetings to you all. So now feel to comment, in the Pacific we say" Talanoa" which means discuss or dialogue, usually accompanied by a cup of kava : a traditional beverage/drink.

Ok I shall start off with the first thread, what is Kava?

Just to give a bit of background this is the Wikipedia definition Kava or kava kava (Piper methysticum: Latin 'pepper' and Latinized Greek 'intoxicating') is a crop of the Pacific Islands.[1] The name kava is from Tongan and Marquesan, meaning 'bitter';[1] other names for kava include ʻawa (Hawaiʻi),[2] ʻava (Samoa),[3] yaqona (Fiji),[4] sakau (Pohnpei),[5] seka (Kosrae),[6] and malok or malogu (parts of Vanuatu).[7] Kava is consumed for its sedating effects throughout the Pacific Ocean cultures of Polynesia, including Hawaii, Vanuatu, Melanesia, and some parts of Micronesia such as Palau. To a lesser extent, it is consumed in nations where it is exported as an herbal medicine.

The root of the plant is used to produce a drink with sedative, anesthetic, and euphoriant properties. Its active ingredients are called kavalactones.[8] A systematic review done by the British nonprofit Cochrane concluded it was likely to be more effective than placebo at treating short-term anxiety.[9]

So share your experiences with drinking kava just to break the ice so to speak!!