Bathgate Park School hall was alive with colour, song, dance, laughter and food during an annual Samoan Language Week celebration held on Thursday morning.
Tamariki from six Dunedin early childhood centres including Pioneers early childhood education centres, Anderson's Bay Preschool Kindergarten, Punavai preschool, Rachel Reynolds Kindergarten as well as groups from Bathgate Park School and Queen's High School came together to learn about Samoan culture, perform favourite Samoan songs and share morning tea.
Alofa Lale, Mercy's Mission Coordinator, hosted the event which has been running for six years and is organised annually by Pioneers group of early childhood education centres.
Guests sang the Samoan national anthem and learnt how religion, song, dance and food contribute to Samoa's rich and vibrant culture. Alofa shared anecdotes from Samoa's noisy and colourful game kilikiti, an adaptation of cricket. Students enjoyed trying to blow a conch shell, with one Queen's High School student succeeding!
Samoan Language Week runs from Sunday 30 May to Saturday 5 June 2021.
