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Cultural showcase supported by PKW TRUST

While listening to a friend talk about the global travels of his kapa haka team, Pātea Māori Club’s Miri Snee mentioned how awesome it would be for the club to return to the international stage.

Little did she know that random comment in 2017 would lead to 20 club members winging their way to Europe late last year, courtesy of that same friend.

“Out of the blue he contacted me asking if we would consider going to a folk festival which happened to be in the south of Italy,” says Miri.

A few hui and some serious kōrero later, the club decided to go for it and gained the festival’s approval to attend, all expenses paid. They just had to get themselves there and home again.

After six months of solid fundraising, and with support from PKW, the planning and preparation came to fruition with the rōpū giving daily performances during the nine-day festival across the region.

It wasn’t all plain sailing while there though. The hilly geography of the nightly festival parades proved challenging for some performers, as was eating pasta and drinking wine at every meal.

“There was no meat and veggies and the vino is customary with every meal. Some of our team got to like the vino,” says Miri.

But it all paled in comparison to interacting with the locals and the similarities they observed between the two cultures, especially the love of sharing music, singing and dancing.

“The Italians are well steeped in their folk culture which is vibrant and family orientated,” says Miri.

“Also the custom of whānau was very obvious, much like our culture. Kaumātua are very much integrated into every-day life, they’re engaged within the whānau, it’s very beautiful to see.”

Five days of sightseeing, at their own expense, saw club members experiencing the sights and sounds of places like Pompeii, Rome, Naples and the Island of Capri.

But Miri says there was another place which had particularly special significance for them.

“We visited the WWI cemetery in Monte Cassino where we paid our respects to those fallen heroes of the 28th Māori Battalion with karakia, waiata, haka and many tears. It was such an amazing privilege to be there.”

Miri says the PKW support enabled the club to hold regular preparation wānanga, with performers returning to Pātea at their own cost from around Aotearoa and as far afield as Australia.

“These weekend noho were very important to ensure we were performance ready, prepared ā-wairua, ā-tinana, as well as travel ready. The PKW koha also went towards getting us all to Tūtahi (Church) at Waitōtara for our last karakia before leaving Aotearoa.”

Mitchell Ritai, PKW General Manager Shareholder Engagement, says the PKW Trust was pleased to help the iconic Club prepare to become important cultural ambassadors in Italy.

“The Trust was pleased to be able to support them to achieve their aspirations by funding their wānanga, which align with our organisation’s cultural values.”

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