Students from Te Kura Mana Māori o Whangaparāoa were pleasantly surprised when they visited the NZ embassy in Italy and met the ambassador. “He’s Māori, just like us,” says Zharn Pokoati after meeting Patrick Rata. “It showed us this is something we can do if we wanted to.”
Thirteen students from the school in the Te Whanau ā Apanui township of Whangaparāoa are spending 12 days in Italy retracing the steps of their ancestors in the 28th Māori Battalion who fought during World War 2. Their visit to the NZ Embassy in Rome was a highlight, says Pokoati. “We asked him heaps of questions. I was interested to know how do you get to become an ambassador.
Rata, a nephew to Māori political pioneer Matiu Rata, is at the tail end of his four-year tenure in Italy. He says he was moved by the students’ reason for being in Italy.
“Listening to the children talk about their great grandfathers was an inspiration,” says Rata.