The family of Bahraini boy Adam happened to run into New Zealand handball players Cameron Ross and Willie Makea in a Bahraini supermarket. They said, “He loves the haka.”
Originally published by Māori Television
A beautiful reminder this week of how much our Māori culture is loved around the world.
This is a tender story about Bahraini boy Adam and his chance encounter with two Maori members of the New Zealand men’s handball team who were traveling to the Middle East for Asia’s premier handball tournament. .
This story is best told by Cameron Ross (Ngāti Ruanui) and Willie Makea (Ngāti Kahungunu, Rongowakata) themselves.
In fact, if it wasn’t for teammate Aston Lang (Ngapuhi), we might never have known.
“Oh, by the way, be sure to ask Cam and Willy about local boy Adam.”
So we did that.
“Let’s talk about Adam,” Ross says.
“Willie and I were at the local supermarket when a local family tapped us on the shoulder.”
“Adam and his family noticed we were wearing New Zealand clothes,” Mr Makea added.
“They explained that their son, who was about 7 or 8 years old, found out we were from New Zealand and loved the haka,” Ross says. “They said he would play the video and perform the haka at his home for his family.”
The family “asked me if I knew the haka,” Makea says.
“We talked to them and let them know about the upcoming matches and that we would perform the haka before each match, so he could come along and actually watch the haka. “Yes,” Ross continued.
They thought the family just wanted to make them feel welcome.
“After we gave them the information, we left and thought they were just being polite,” Ross says.
“Imagine our surprise when the next game featured Adam and his family.
“They came to watch the game with the haka and became our fans from that day on.”
“The team really surrounded him and went high-fiving him,” Ross said. “And we also managed to get him some New Zealand memorabilia and old New Zealand playthings. did.”
Mr Ross said it was an example of the international reverence of Māori culture and its ability to bring people together, even if they live 9,000 miles apart.
“It was a really special day to see the power of sport and Te Ao Māori bring people together from very different backgrounds.
“Certainly, this experience will always be memorable for me and hopefully it will be a really exciting day for him.”