Congratulations to Maria Ilalio, Alana Tuipulotu and Teresa Roger (pictured left) who celebrated success at the Aneriueta (Teta) Pa'o-Sopoaga Pasifika Speech Competition held at Riccarton High School on Tuesday night.

Teresa won first place in the Senior English category, Maria won first place in the Junior Samoan category and Alana was awarded participation in the Senior Tongan category.

Marian College Board of Trustee Jeff Ah Kuoi, who heard Teresa’s winning address, said she delivered a powerful speech describing her experiences being afakasi – a Samoan person with European ancestry.

“One of the most telling insights were the internal challenges and how this manifests itself in everyday life. What hammered home for me was how she spoke about ‘being too brown to be white, and too white to be brown,” Jeff said.

The annual competition organised by sPACPAC allows students across Canterbury to compete in Cook Islands Māori, English, Fijian, Samoan and Tongan language.