19 July 2024, Apia – Teachers at Moata’a Primary School swapped the blackboard and markers for paddles and life-jackets on Friday to be students during the start of a pioneering program geared towards using the sport of Alo Va’a (outrigger canoeing) to promote water safety among students and schools in Samoa.
The Moata’a Primary School Va’a and Water Safety Education and Awareness Programme was held and facilitated by the Pualele Outrigger Canoe Club (POCC) at Moata’a, with the support of the Samoa Outrigger Canoeing Association (SOCA). It is funded by the New Zealand High Commission Fund and aims to provide a comprehensive sustainable education and awareness programme toolkit tailored to promote community awareness in Samoa for Alo Va’a, scheduled to start in 2025.
SOCA President, Toáigaoaloali’i Matthew Wendt, said the Moata’a Primary School being located next to the water at Taumeasina makes the school an ideal starting place for an initiative SOCA hopes to grow and expand across the country.
The Pualele Outrigger Canoe Club secured funding of T$15,000 from the New Zealand High Commission Fund in 2022 under the sports, art and culture development theme. The funding from New Zealand allowed for the procurement of 18 paddles and 18 life-jackets for the programme.
“Pualele is very pleased to be part of this programme and having our friends from Moata’a Primary School who are just across the road from our base here at Taumeasina makes this even more special,” said the President of Pualele, Faumuina Anthony Talouli. “As a club, we are actively engaged and keen to be part of the work to grow our sport and we are excited to see this initiative start.”
Faumuina added that it is critical to kick start the programme with teachers.
“We believe it is very important we start teaching the fundamentals and safety of Alo Va’a and water safety from the teachers’ level. Pualele shares the aspirations of SOCA to grow the sport of Alo Va’a in Samoa and there is no better place to start than with our young children. Hopefully this is the start of something that would lead to the Moata’a school finding ways to include va’a and water safety into their extra curriculum activities.”
The Pualele OCC is providing in-kind the use of its base and equipment, as well as the expertise to run the education and awareness programme.
The programme will commence in March 2025 targeting 96 students over three cohorts with cohort 1 of 30 to 40 year 8 students. The programme will also take into account gender sensitivity when engaging with school students to include equal opportunity for boys and girls participation.
Moata’a Primary School Principal, Va’ili’ili Tito, welcomed the programme and thanked SOCA, Pualele and the New Zealand High Commission for the initiative.
He said that we live in a country surrounded by water and he believes it is very important to teach water safety not just for students but also for teachers.
“Moata’a Primary School is very fortunate to be involved at the start of this programme and I want to extend a big thank you to the organisers.”
The Moata’a Primary School Va’a and Water Safety Education and Awareness Programme started with theory taught inside the classroom, and ended with teachers taking to the pristine Taumeasina lagoon to put their new found life skills to the test.
