Corey’s Kōrero – a weekly blog from the General Manager

Kia ora e te whānau,

Can I start by first acknowledging the whānau of Aunty Betty Mason-Smith, who passed away peacefully on Saturday October 9 2021 at Ashwood Park Retirement Village, aged 81 years. Aunty had laid at Tuamātene Marae this week. Our heartfelt condolences and aroha are extended to Aunty Betty’s whānau. Moe mai rā 💜

As mentioned in last week’s edition, I’ve restarted a “short” weekly blog that I hope gives you an insight into some of the mahi that we’re currently progressing in the rūnanga office and to touch on some highlights/challenges. Welcome to the second week of “Corey’s Kōrero”!

  • Last week, I shared the news about a Government funded project to support the Te Hoiere Restoration Project. For those interested, you can view the latest Te Hoiere Restoration Project newsletter here, or follow the project on Facebook here. There is some exciting work being done to restore the catchment and we can all look forward to seeing that work progress.
  • A big mihi to our whānau who took part in a working bee at Te Pokohiwi over the weekend, an initiative progressed by our Takahi Whenua team.
  • Our team is currently busy working on some full on programmes for January 2022 (which is just around the corner!). We’re just “putting the icing on the cake” in terms of the planning for these events. Keep your eyes peeled for further news and the opportunity to register for these events, which include:
    • Taiohi Tangata Marae, a five day wānanga for our rangatahi to traverse Rangitāne o Wairau sites of significance across Te Tauihu. This will give our rangatahi the opportunity to feast on the kōrero and history that is uniquely Rangitāne o Wairau, through learning opportunities outside the traditional classroom.
    • Kura Reo, an extension to the successful programme of Kura Reo that we’ve already delivered in the last few years. Kura Reo provides a safe, fun and stimulating environment for learners across the continuum – whether you can speak no Te Reo, a little or a lot, this is an event that is not to be missed.
  • We’ve had strong interest in the Whānau Maara Kai at Home Project (which is being delivered in the Wairau), with limited spaces remaining. Click here for more information.
  • Tomorrow (Thursday 14 October) we are holding a further wānanga on the Molesworth Cultural Values Statement. To register for this wānanga, click here. We’d love to have your input, to share your kōrero, stories and knowledge (from both a historical and modern-day context) about the Molesworth.

That’s a wrap for this week – stay safe, and for those of you who haven’t had the chance to receive your COVID-19 vaccine as yet, don’t forget that this weekend is “Super Saturday“.

Ngā mihi,

Corey Hebberd

General Manager

PS: we’ve got some exciting initiatives underway – if you’ve missed them, I encourage you to have a look at the links below:

By |2021-10-13T17:50:35+13:00October 13th, 2021|Categories: Iwi, Pānui|0 Comments