Rotorua Girls' High students take cultural learnings from Tahiti trip

Rotorua Girls' High School students off to Tahiti to retrace the steps of their ancestors. Photo/Stephen Parker

Retracing their ancestral heritage during a trip to Tahiti will leave 25 Rotorua Girls' High School students with "memories they will remember forever".

The group, along with three teachers, are off to Tahiti tomorrow where they will visit pineapple plantations, experience cultural shows, be hosted by a Tahitian school and be welcomed on to Marae Taputapuatea.

The students, all a part of the school's Marautanga faculty, will be on the island for seven days. This is the first time the school has made the trip.

Organiser and teacher Laurelle Tamati said the experience would be "unforgettable" for the students.

"You can read all about Tahiti in textbooks but actually being able to experience the culture and retrace our ancestral heritage will give our girls memories they will remember forever.

"There will be so much learning to take away from the trip and the Marautanga faculty, of which the girls are a part of, has been structured this year around the trip."

The trip costs each student $2900, which has been subsidised by school fundraising.

"We know our families have had to make huge sacrifices to allow these girls to go and we're lucky to have run big fundraisers to lower the cost."

Ms Tamati said the Rotorua students would be hosted at a Tahitian school.

"We hosted their students recently so now they will be hosting us. They've organised workshops for the girls to take part in, including dancing, hat making and haku lei making.

"This will be such an awesome learning opportunity and a chance to talk about our history from different perspectives."

She said there was great value in educational trips and she hoped to see this Tahiti trip become an annual or biennial event.

When the Rotorua Daily Post asked the students what they were most looking forward to, they said the beaches and warmth.