Melanie Maroroa

My gorgeous mother told me this story and how some things have changed, since she was a little girl growing up and how some things have stayed the same such working in the plantations.

My mother told me this story. Her name is Ngamata Atera Taura. She is 43 years of age was born on Rarotonga in the smallest village of Matavera. She was raised by her grandparents and worked very hard on the farm.

In those days the vehicles were cars, trucks, tractors, vans and motor bikes. The food was pork, home chicken, utu, wild taro (wild cassava) and fruits. The houses were kikau houses, wooden houses, also block houses.

Back in her time, there were underground streams and outdoor ovens, which had wood and dry leaves such as banana leaves and kikau leaves.

One thing she liked was her education and her culture. One thing she did not like was working in the plantation, but now she is teaching her children how to plant and how to look after our crop.

 

I chose the shape of a wave because it represents how much I like swimming. The flower petals represent my uncles, aunties, parents, grandparents and siblings.  The patterns on the outside represent how much I want to be an artist.  The fifteen stars represent the fifteen islands of the Cook Islands.  Outside the flower is our Marae.