Leaving on a jet plane... after many fundraisers

Ariana Smith jnr, 12, and Manaia Smith, 14, prepare to head overseas on school trips. They're pictured with family Te Amo-Amiria Smith, 2, Ariana Smith, Reihana Smith, 7. PHOTO/BEN FRASER

If you want to know how many sausage sizzles and raffle tickets it takes to fundraise for an overseas school trip just ask Ariana Smith - she's busy fundraising not for one, but two of her children to head to the other side of the world.

The Rotorua mum admitted the task of raising close to $14,000 to fund the school trips is "crazy" and time consuming, but said the opportunities they're about to embark on make it well worthwhile.

Her daughter, also called Ariana, is heading to Italy to follow in the footsteps of the 28th Maori Battalion as part of a Rotorua Intermediate School trip, while son Manaia will travel to the United States with the Rotorua Boys' High School accelerate programme trip.
Ariana said it's more a case of what haven't they done to fundraise - selling raffle tickets, hangi, sausage sizzles, taking on private catering gigs and all sorts of other efforts in a bid to fund the trip.

"It definitely does take over your life. You really have to be on your game."

For Ariana, it's all about giving her children opportunities she didn't necessarily have. And she knows the value of such school trips for children - the trip to the US will be Manaia's second, after a previous school trip to China when he was at intermediate.

"Hopefully they'll get an appreciation of the world and where they come from and how good we have it."

Ariana said the trip tracing the footsteps of the Maori Battalion through Italy was a particularly poignant one as she had whanau who went.

"For my daughter, I want her to get a true appreciation for those that served and the sacrifices that they made."

Ariana is travelling with her daughter on the trip, because of her age.

Fellow mum Amanda Nixon has been busy organising fundraising ideas for the Rotorua Boys' High School trip, taking the role as fundraising co-ordinator.

When she heard about the planned trip she decided it was "such a good opportunity for the boys" that she had to do what she could to make it happen.

"It gives them the opportunity to think they can do anything, to open up their hearts and develop them."