Whiria, whiria, whiria ngā aho. Ngā aho tāngata, ngā aho i whakatōria e ngā mātua tūpuna, ngā aho e hono nei i a tātou ki a tātou, tātou ki tō tātou taiao, ngā aho kōrero e pū mai ana i ngā mātāpuna kōrero ō nehe.
Whiria kia ū, whiria kia tū roa ai mō ngā uri whakatupu. Tihei mauri ora!
Picture this: Sitting here at my desk overlooking the beauuutiful Whaingaroa Harbour, an A3 sized list of tasks (transferred from my head, brainstormed onto paper) on my left, phone on my right, computer in front of me, calendar on the wall already filling up with dates, dates, tasks, meetings, jams… 2010 is on.
This is my first blog for the year.. just trying to get my mind back in from holiday mode (up there in the photo) and back into the idea that this is going to be a meeean year. On the ‘to do’ list right now are the project overviews, budgets and letters to potential supporters. With a project so fresh and so new, a big part of the work now seems to be shaping the concept and connecting with people – forging and strengthening partnerships that can benefit all involved.
I am massively grateful to be supported to be working another year with the awesome whanau at The Enviroschools Foundation, and to be able to focus my energy on working with rangatahi Māori around the country to bring together Te Aho Tū Roa.
Te Aho Tū Roa is a national jam programme where rangatahi will explore stories from the past – ngā kōrero a ngā tūpuna – that illustrate connection and belonging to place, specifically to a significant body of water in their local area. Whether it be their Mātāpuna, Awa, Roto or Moana, rangatahi will be challenged to seek out the people or places where the stories are held, bringing community connections, actions and feelings of belonging, pride of place. They will then bring these stories together at the national event where they will have the opportunity to use their skills and talents in performance.
This first part of the year is also when we will start to get in touch with the most important people in this project – the rangatahi, kura and people in the regions. Need to get lists sorted, letters for principals, workshop plans and logistics sorted. Get on the phone…
We are also exploring the possibility of getting sponsored a vehicle to get me and my crew around to the kura in the regions to carry out the workshop programme and regional jams later on in the year…any ideas? contacts? 
Also, as part of the project we are looking to record the journeys of some of the participants of the project through interviews at the hui ā kura – school workshops, the hui ā rohe – regional jams, and the national jam event – Te Aho Tū Roa in September this year. Through this we hope to be able to tell the story of the outcomes of the project and also come out with a resource to help future participants get an idea of what it’s all about. To enable this to happen, on our wish list is a Sony Z1 video camera so any ideas on a good place to source these are more than welcome!
Aaanyway, taking a brief moment of time for reflection (and blog writing) has given me a nice space to breathe, back to mahi now and let the weaving continue… Whiria, whiria, whiria ngā aho. Whiria kia ū, kia tū roa ai mo ngā rā e heke mai ana.
Mauri ora!
