‘My Samoan family’ a tourism hit

“At the end of the evening under the watchful eye of the villagers we all danced ‘Samoan style’ with our mothers and members of the women’s weaving group. This wrapped up an amazing and unforgettable experience for us all”

A tourism pilot project that weaves an intimate Samoan village experience with cultural industries is winning fans and repeat business.

The Women in Business Development pilot “My Samoan Family” places individuals into families where they become part of a family within a remote Samoan village.

Executive director, Adimaimalaga Tafuna’i, says that many visitors to Samoa say they would love to see what goes on in a village daily life and they would also like to visit their projects.

So far, the organisation has been developing and testing the pilot with Rangi Ruru Girls School in Christchurch. This year, the Patamea weavers group hosted the school with a “mum” adopting two new “daughters” for four days in August.

“Just this week we received a box of photo albums from the girls for each of their adopted families,” Mrs. Tafauna’i said.

“The pictures were really wonderful showing different cultures and different generations sharing knowledge. The pictures that touched us most were ones of their families back in Christchurch – it showed how they wanted to also share their real family with their Samoan family”.

Mrs. Tafuna’i says the weavers group really embraced the concept of making the girls feel like part of the family and do their share of chores such as scrape coconuts, feed pigs and make cocoa.

They also had to eat traditional Samoan food. The girls also got the chance to help at the virgin coconut oil production site that belongs to the

Schwalger family and join the weavers during their weekly session.

“One of our staff acts as a guide and translator, who helps to organise their trip and liaise with the families. This year the group’s van broke down and she organised for one of the families to drive them out to visit a siapo maker in Palauli, as well as for a mechanic to come to the village”.

Rangi Ruru Girl’s School head of biology, Lorna Van de Ende. says ‘My Samoan Family’ gives a unique and memorable experience that allows the students to stay in a village, be part of a family and yet still in walking distance of each other.

“Being able to visit the coconut oil plantation was a valuable insight into the work that Women in Business Development is doing with the Samoan community. This year, our girls also attended a local talent contest and visited the local primary school, for which they are now planning a return visit and a short lesson”.

The school pays a per student fee to each of the hosts family, covers the cost of the guide and also makes a donation to Women in Business Development Inc.

Mrs. Tafuna’i says that right from the start, Rangi Ruru had been very communicative and helped refining the visit so that it could be marketed more widely.

Van de Ende says their main feedback has been for the girls to be more actively involved rather than just spectators.

“Last year they worked for two to three hours at the virgin coconut oil site and realised how hot and tiring the job is”.

She says that the school is already planning their 2015 visit.

Students Laura Marriott and Michelle Boyd wrote this following article for the Rangi Ruru Girl’s School Magazine. It is published in full:

In the July school holidays, ten very excited year 13s ventured to Samoa. The aim of our journey wasn’t to relax in the tropical heat and come back with a nice sun tan. What we were hoping for was the opportunity to gain a much deeper insight into and appreciation of Samoan culture.

Day one: was filled with a lot of firsts for all of us. Our journey began in Apia where we sampled traditional Samoan fare cooked over an umu or hot stone oven; which included breadfruit, taro and palusami. For some of us this was the first challenge of our journey but for everyone an exciting beginning.

Day two: was the real start of our inspiring and unique experience. We were packed into what was a rickety old ferry and slowly made our way to the tiny Island of Savai’i. This scarcely developed and sparsely populated island was to be our home for the next six nights and four of those were to be spent billeted with families in the village of Patamea. Patamea was off the beaten track and more inland than most of the villages on the Island. We found our first day here one of the most challenging due to language barriers and vast differences from home. As the van pulled away we were faced with chickens, pigs, wild dogs and communal sleeping. This new reality soon became home for everyone.

Whilst in Patamea we were fully embraced into the large Samoan families and even joined in with some games of friendly volleyball and basketball. These games quickly became ‘Palagi’ (white girls) vs. many of the local children and our host sisters. Despite the obvious language barrier we managed to communicate during these games and all of us felt like we formed closer bonds with the community.

The interaction with the children of the village and with the village school was a highlight of our trip.

Our time with the families soon came to unexpectedly abrupt end. On our last evening in the village the women from the weaving group and the host mothers bid us all a very special farewell. Each girl was gifted a Samoan dress (handmade the night before) and the women and children of the village performed dances and songs. Each pair of girls responded often singing alongside their “sisters and brothers” from their host families. We farewelled them by singing and giving them an emotional performance of the haka.

At the end of the evening under the watchful eye of the villagers we all danced ‘Samoan style’ with our mothers and members of the women’s weaving group. This wrapped up an amazing and unforgettable experience for us all.

When it came to saying goodbye the next day many tears were shed and all of us would agree that whilst staying in the village was the most challenging part of their trip it was also the most special.

Travelling back to the main Island, Upolu, gave time to relax and spend our last few days together as a group of ‘Samoan’ girls. Highlights for everyone were: experiencing a Samoan church service, dancing with the Samoan boys, riding in an open top ute (as a result of the van breaking down), swimming in the ocean trench, general village life, the fales at Tanu Beach and the joyful all-embracing happiness of the people.

*Faumuina is the Media Officer for Women in Business Development Inc.

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