Four brilliant young women took on the world – becoming the first kiwis to compete at Brave New Voices International Youth Poetry Slam Festival

Watch their story on 7 Sharp here.

Rob Tuwhare’s Granddaughter, Manaia, started writing at school and was part of four friends at Western Springs College that cleaned up NZ and Australia Spoken Word, then Los Vegas at the 2019 Brave New Voices International Youth Poetry Slam Festival. (We donated towards their trip.)

Manaia now works in schools via Action Education (Youth line) talking to students about writing / spoken word.

Big Thank You from Ngāhine Pūkōrero
Kia ora Whānau Tomorrow Ngāhine Pūkōrero will depart from Aotearoa and embark on the journey to compete on the world stage of Brave New Voices 2019

We just want to offer a huge thank you and send out a big mihi to you all of you who gave so generously and enabled this to happen. We appreciate you so much.

Thank you so much for your belief in these incredible young women and what they have to say. It takes team work to make the dream work and we would not be here without you, we cannot thank you enough.

So we depart for LA tomorrow afternoon when we arrive we will spend some time sightseeing, rehearsing and acclimatising then on the night of the 16th Ngāhine Pūkōrero will feature at Da Poetry Lounge which we are very excited about. Da Poetry Lounge is the largest and longest running weekly venue in Hollywood’s history, and the largest weekly venue in the country. This is an amazing opportunity and will mean the team will be able to test their new material on an American audience.

Then on the morning of the 17th we drive up to Las Vegas to Brave New Voices for the opening night. The team will take part in workshops on the 18th then the quarter finals begin on the 19th. We will do our best to live stream our performances and keep everyone up to date on our Facebook page so please follow us on Action Education Inc.

We have a small thank you from the girls here, PASSWORD: Lets Go!

This summer Takutai has been involved with the Orewa Longboard Club. Recently they hosted a luncheon to pass on their appreciation of our efforts.

They use the Orewa Surf Lifesaving building as their base. If you are looking for a visit down memory lane then we would recommend a meal at the restaurant.

In the 60’s and 70’s many local NZ surf clubs had such facilities- it certainly makes for a lovely environment.

A stately new carving now presides over part of the Te Ara Hura walkway.
The intricately carved Pouwhenua, located at the top of a section of grape vines off Korora Road, took approximately 400 hours to complete and was unveiled at daybreak on Saturday 18 August 2018.
Around 45 people gathered for the karakia and waiata. and as the sun’s light started to emerge from the east, the pou was revealed and named Horowhenua after a man who rescued his aged father, chief Paoa and returned him home. To conclude the unveiling, a hymn was sung, and the blessing ended with a karakia followed by mihi and waiata.
After the blessing, Peter and Mary Wells of Takutai Trust spoke about their inspiration behind commissioning the carving and of the artist, Tristan Marler, who worked on the piece.

“We moved to the property, which had not been permanently lived in for a couple of years, in 2015. “The garden was ready for some TLC to return it to Its former glory;” says Peter.

During the next 18 months, much of which was spent in the garden, Peter and Mary worked out how popular the walkway (situated on an easement in their property) was – especially with tourists.

During the next 18 months, much of which was spent in the garden, Peter and Mary worked out how popular the walkway (situated on an easement in their property) was –  especially with tourists.
They wanted to create something. unique for passers-by, so they commissioned Component, a renowned street artist to paint a shipping container on the property to add a bit of extra colour and attraction to the walk.

“We’d worked with iwi before, and we thought it would be a great idea to have a pou on the highpoint of the walkway. We discussed it with carver Tristan Marler and spoke with the local iwi Ngati Paoa who were on board with the idea and were happy to be part of it”.

Typically, there is a story around Pouwhenua, especially such intricately carved ones, and Morehu Wilson of Ngati Paoa says that the pou depicts Horowhenua carrying his father on his back safely home.

The Wells are pleased people from all over the world will be able to encounter the carving and to learn about Horowhenua.
I would say more than 50 percent of people walking the track aren’t from New Zealand, so the opportunity to come across Māori culture and art is great,” says Peter.

Finding the right piece of totara was extremely difficult for artist Tristan Marler who studied whakairo rākau (Māori wood carving) in Rotorua and worked on the pou for two years. During which time he and his partner had their daughter.

“l am humbled to have been a part of this Kaupapa with the support of my family, Ngati Paoa, and Peter and Mary Wells who commissioned the pou; says Tristan

Like everyone who gathered to watch the morning light illuminate the new Pouwhenua, Peter says he’s enthralled by the result. How someone can start with just a lump of wood and a chisel and produce something so striking is amazing.”

Sophie Boladeras – Gulf News 23^rd August 2018

The days of borrowing boats to compete at inter-school sailing competitions will soon be over for the Waiheke High School sailing team.
Thanks to the generosity of two benefactors, the students will start the New Year with four virtually new 420 class vessels. The purchase comes after Takutai Trust, a private trust committed 10 facilitating Waiheke youth’s path into water sports, and Half Moon Bay Marina together donated around $60,000 to the school’s sea sports academy.
Coach Robin Kenyon says the two-person boats will have been used in just one regatta, the Youth Sailing World Championships to be held in China Dec 2017. Compared to their cost if purchased brand new the deal is “at a heavily discounted price” he says. “We are looking at an end of December delivery and they should be on the water mid-January”.
The donated funds will also cover the cost of fitting new sails, which are not included in the deal, and the purchase of a Sunburst yacht and other equipment.
Combined with two other Sunburst yachts the team hope to continue borrowing from the local Sea Scouts for training. The I5 or so students involved in the school’s academy will be well equipped and should be match-ready when the inter-school regatta season nears its peak next Easter.
The team will continue to train off Oneroa beach on Tuesday evenings from 5pm to 7pm in the lead up to the competitions.

Rob Brennan – Gulf News 9th November 2017