YOUR INDUSTRY
Samantha Dhand
Study opportunity turns life around for young whānau Samantha Dhand never thought she could be successful at anything until she was introduced to a pathway of opportunity through studying horticulture at the Primary ITO. Supplied by Primary ITO Growing up has been something of a struggle for Samantha, who left school at 14 to work fruit picking in orchards in the Coromandel and Bay of Plenty. Now 23, she’s on the path to achieve her goals to work in human resources and administration in the horticulture industry. By the age of 21 Samantha, of Ngāti Porou, had seven years’ experience in the industry working in orchards, vineyards and packhouses, but she didn’t know there was opportunity for her to succeed further in the industry. “I always thought I would be stuck in an orchard for the rest of my life day-to-day. So many people I have worked with have been doing the same job for over 30 years. I didn’t want to be that person.”
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The ORCHARDIST : MARCH 2021
Samantha is ever thankful for the day in 2019 when a Primary ITO trainer came to the orchard where she was working and suggested that she could study for a qualification in the industry.
Opportunity turns life around It’s an opportunity that she says has turned her life around, given her hope and a positive pathway for her five-year-old tamāhine (daughter) and the 14-yearold tungāne (cousin) that she raises. “I didn’t really know that a piece of paper could get you that far. I didn’t know the Primary ITO existed and I didn’t see myself studying. “When you come from a family that is not that close and there are a lot of issues, you don’t know of the opportunities that are there.
