Unuhia Te Matapae, tau, tau, tau ana!
Nō te marama o Pepuere, karangahia tātou e Te Ata Festival ki te wānanga rangatahi o Te Ahu Taiohi. He kaupapa tuatahi tēnei i raro i te maru o te Hui Taurima o Aotearoa mō ngā Toi / NZ Festival of the Arts kia whai reo te hunga rangatahi i ēnei ahurei nui o Aotearoa. I karapinepinetia ki te pūtake o Whitireira, o Rangituhi, ki ngā wai tuku kiri o Ngāti Toa ki Porirua ki te manaaki i ngā taiohi nō Te Kura Kaupapa o Te Rito, nō te Kāreti o Mana anō hoki i roto i ngā tini kaupapa ā Rēhia. Taiea ana!
Nā Te Wānanga o Aotearoa te kaupapa i taumaru mō te wiki, ki reira whakangungua ai a mātātahi ki ngā kaupapa waiata, kaupapa kanikani nō te ao, kapa-haka, taonga pūoro, whakapakari tinana me ngā mahi tūrangarau a te toa. I tutukihia te wiki ki te tihi o Rangituhi, i reira whātoro ai te tinana, ōtirā te ngākau ki ngā taonga tuku iho nō taiao.
“Kua ākona e au he waiata, he haka anō hoki. Ko ngā painga ki au ko te whakawhanaunga, te whakahoahoa ki tangata kē nō kura kē!”
“Mā te kanikani ahau i whakapuaki i aku kare-ā-roto.”
“Te whakawhanaungatanga...the bond we've created with the kids from Mana, even though it was hard for all of us.”
“[I learnt] about the plants while walking up Rangituhi and now I know what plant to use while going toilet.”
Kāore e ārikarika ana ngā mihi ki ngā taiohi i tōtā te rae ki tēnei huihuinga. Ko rātou i tū ki te mura o te ahi ki te wero i ngā pātū o te whare mauri ora. I te tīmatanga e ngū ana te reo, e whakamā ana ki te whakapuaki whakaaro, ā, ka noho pipiri ki ngā hoa ā kura.
I te mutunga iho i turakina te hara whakamā, ā, i kotahi ai te tū ki te papa whakatū waewae ki mua i te hapori o Te Wānanga o Aotearoa me Te Ata. Haramai tētahi āhua! I unuhia tō rātou whakapae i a rātou anō mā te tūwhiti i te hopo, mā te hinengaro tūwhera, mā te kaha o te tū. E ai ki tētahi tauira, “I pai te whakawhanaunga ki kura kē, ki tamariki kē... i kaha patu i te whakamā.”
Ko ngā whāinga i eke ko:
te whakawhanaungatanga
te puta ki taiao
kaupare i te whakamā
te ako pūkenga hou
te whai hoa hou
He whiringa muka tangata, he whiringa muka kaupapa. E rere ngā tai o mihi ki ngā tuākana i tauawhitia te kāhui tēina, ōtirā ki ngā mātanga nō Aotearoa, nō Te Moana nui ā Kiwa, puta noa i te ao i tatū mai ki te whakaaweawe i te ngākau me te mata o ēnei taiohi. He tuatahi tēnei kia tūhono ki Te Ata, ki te whakatutuki i te wawata o Lemi Ponifasio, tētahi o ngā mātanga toi matua o NZ Festival of the Arts.
Tū kaha! Tū māia! Tū rangatira!
Whakaahua: Te Kawa Robb