Hawke's Bay course strengthens links to Samoan culture

A week-long course to help people reconnect with Samoan culture was held at Peterhead School. Photo/File

A course held last week to help people reconnect with Samoan culture in Hawke's Bay has been heralded a success.

A week-long Samoan cultural class ended on Saturday with a performance from participants at Peterhead School.

Three teachers from Epiphany Trust in Auckland taught the 50 students about Samoan language and customs for three hours each evening in an initiative organised by King's Force Health, Peterhead School and Hawke's Bay District Health Board.

One of the organisers, Charles Faletutulu, said the inaugural course was held to help revive the Samoan culture in Hawke's Bay.

It was specifically aimed at New Zealand-born Samoans or non-Samoans who had married into the culture to help learn about traditions and protocol.

"To help them understand more about why their family members think and act in certain ways," he said.

The feedback had been positive with many students saying they had already been able to connect more with their families.

"It's about building a stronger community," Mr Faletutulu said.

The group from Epiphany Trust had taught the course all over the world and are regarded as the best in terms of effectiveness, he said.

The plan is to run more of the courses in Hawke's Bay with another aimed at being held in July.

The course culminated in a cultural showcase day for students to show their families and community leaders what they had learnt on Saturday afternoon.

This included speeches, a re-enactment of the ava ceremony (a Samoan custom), a demonstration of an umu (Samoan hangi), dancing and singing.