My Personal Voice Matua Jim

29/06/16 Marae visit Personal voice

At  the Ruapotaka Marae Visit  my favorite workshop was singing with Matua Jim.  As I entered the Wharenui I saw a older Maori man with white hair and a beard. He was wearing a fancy suit and tie. His name was Matua Jim. He was holding a guitar that belonged to the school. I thought that if he sang his voice would sound like a creaky floorboard, because he looked to old to sing to a large crowd of kids.

The song we were going to sing was in Maori which was going to be hard for me to pronounce properly. The song was hard for me to sing because I couldn’t remember most of the words in the song. In the Wharenui we sounded like bats in a large cave but Matua Jim was the opposite. He sounded like a famous yodeler that traveled all over the world yodeling about John Key!

My favourite song that Matua Jim sang for us was about loved ones that have been lost. As he sang like an angel I saw half of the adults with tears in their eyes, and the children were all still and quiet. After the very emotional song he sang, we all clapped and cheered like kids in a candy store.

At the end of the day we had to leave the Marae and go back to school. We all promised to the staff and elders that this won’t be the last time we visit the Ruapotaka Marae.