On the 6th of November, students from Porirua and Bishop Viard Colleges, along with their family and friends, gathered at Pataka Museum to celebrate the establishment of the AFS Pasifika Porirua Chapter and their upcoming exchange to Japan. Recipients of the Japan - East Asia Network of Exchange for Students and Youths, (JENESYS) scholarships, these students were selected on the basis of their ability to take on the challenges of an AFS exchange. AFS students, family, staff and volunteers were joined by Porirua City Mayor Jenny Brash, President of FAGASA Inc. Galumalemana Alfred Hunkin, and Director of the Japanese Culture and Information Centre, Suguru Minoya to mark the occasion. AFS Returnees Sarah and Irene MacArthur amused and informed the audience with stories from their own AFS exchanges and scholarship recipients Penina Chu Shing and Corey Howard shared their views on how AFS has and will continue to impact their lives. The audience enjoyed a performance by Olé Pasifika- Bishop Viard College’s Poly Club and a Penina and her cousin’s church group. After all the awards were handed out and the speeches made, everyone enjoyed a fabulous dinner, compliments of the Pasifika Porirua volunteers complete with Japanese sashimi and pineapple pie. Thanks to the Pacific Business Trust and the AFS Pasifika Porirua volunteers who made the event such a success.

AFS Jenesys Scholarship recipients.

The Pasifika Volunteers