Morwenna Petaia

“When I was 16, I spent a year living in Samoa with my grandmother. I didn’t get sent there because I was ‘naughty’, but because my grandmother needed someone to keep her company. This year completely changed my life.

I was born in New Zealand and raised in Australia since I was two, so I only knew what life was like away from the islands. It was ingrained in me that the education system and the way I was brought up was superior to Samoa, a third world country.

I attended Samoa College and because my grandmother knew the principal, I was placed in 10.1. We don’t rank our classes in Australia, so it didn’t sink in that this meant I was in the class with some of the smartest students in Samoa. In my mind I was thinking I was going to be smarter coming from Australia when in fact I had no right being in that class. My exam results showed me where I ranked.

I also learned the differences in how we are treated. On one hand I was Samoan and expected to know how and why we do things like put food in a raised container placed in a bowl of water (to keep ants away). On the other hand, I was a foreigner and treated like a guest instead of a part of the family who was asked to serve and do feaus because of my age.

It helped me to form part of who I was as Samoan who lived outside of Samoa. Because whether we like it or not our cultural identities are different and acknowledging that there is no one way to be Samoan is a huge part of understanding why each of us do things.”