We have invited Mr Shan Sei Fan, a chinese genealogist at school. Our students work on relationships with the chinese community in Tahiti and learn about their genealogy. It was a great moment !

Article publié dans la Dépêche de Tahiti le mercredi 19 Octobre 2016 n° 17231

And you can read the translation below

The Aorai Students Get to Know Their Forefathers

A warm welcome was awaiting Mr Louis Shan Sei Fan at Aorai High School yesterday morning. Expert in genealogy and family trees for the Chinese community in Tahiti, Mr Shan Sei Fan had come to guide the students who were looking for information about their ancestors.

Catherine Lusseau, history and geography teacher in charge of coordinating the programme Erasmus+ explains : « The students currently work, with our European partners, on the topic ‘The Relationships to the Others’. So we decided to collect information about the Chinese community in Tahiti and the way its members integrated the Polynesian society. The students are working on their genealogy in order to know who their ancestors were. The aim of this exercise is to show our partners that, following the Polynesian example, a multicultural society can prove to be tolerant and thus live peacefully. We may say French Polynesia is a sort of laboratory for the world.»

The topic of this European programme is entitled « It’s my life, it’s my choice ». Among the tenth and eleventh graders who met Louis Shan Sei Fan, one student found out that her ancestor came from Germany. He was a captain on board a whaling boat which called in at the Austral islands. « This type of exercise corresponds to the objective of the programme : being tolerant, live in peace », adds Catherine Lusseau. « An exhibition about the story of the Chinese community will take place next January for the Chinese New Year, The work prepared by the students will be posted online on the Erasmus + platform. »

 Meheitia Sandford, a fifteen-year-old grader says « I discovered that my ancestor’s name was Sun Ko. He arrived on Rurutu island in 1920. He came to open a grocery store. He belonged to the latest wave of Chinese immigrants. My parents told me about this historical part but they didn’t say anything about my ancestor. »

 Aorai High School and its partners, have also launched a health programme which is related to the Erasmus+ syllabus.

 Three students will go to Sweden next January, and three or four other students will travel to Spain in May, thus living the exciting adventure of meeting other people and learning other cultures. Hinaiarii Tamaititahio, a sixteen-year-old students in eleventh grade Literature says : « I discovered that I had a German ancestor » We made researches about our forefathers in order to know if they were Chinese. As for me, I found out that one of my ancestors was German. He was my great great grandfather. I don’t know his name but he was a captain on a whaling boat which came to Raivavae. I have just discovered that and I am quite surprised. »

                   Translated in English by Terminale GF students and Mrs. Macouin, their teacher