“Kiwi took a group of kids – a lot of them were our waka ama kids – and used the waka ama environment and input from coaches in other sports to motivate them in other spaces.”
Seven waka ama paddlers served as a pilot group for the programme, Brooking said.
They all gained a Diploma in Health Promotion and Sport and Exercise Science through Ōtaki-based Te Wānanga o Raukawa. The diploma studies are delivered extramurally, with the support of Te Kurawai kaiako (teachers).
Two of the students have started degree studies and hope to complete them this year. All going well, four of the others will complete their degrees next year. One of last year’s diploma graduates will be doing pre-med studies through Auckland University.
The number of students – including the starting seven – was increased to 30 this year.
Apart from diploma and or degree qualifications, those completing the programme will come out of it with an open-water diving (scuba) certificate, Surf Life Saving New Zealand’s Surf Lifeguard Award (formerly the Bronze Medallion) and mentoring towards a driver licence.
“It is all done at home and in any space we can find ... a lot of it has been done outdoors,” Brooking said.
“Kiwi did a huge amount with them ... anything that revolved around water. They went rafting, and skiing – on the frozen form of water – and she took them to the annual waka hourua festival (for double-hulled voyaging sailing craft).”
Horouta Waka Hoe Club chairman Walton Walker, who supported the programme’s development, said the students learned the basics of small-boat skippers’ responsibilities and followed a demanding fitness regimen that encompassed preparations for waka ama long-distance nationals and world sprint championships.
“Kiwi led a lot of those activities,” Walker said. “If she expected them to do it, she was prepared to do it herself.”
Florrie Brooking said such activities built on the life skills of students, helped them earn certificates they would not ordinarily gain in mainstream schooling, and gave them a head start in terms of tertiary-level qualifications.
All this was on top of their NCEA (National Certificate of Educational Achievement) studies at high school.
“Our programme has requirements that our students have a pathway into either a university or degree studies with Te Wānanga o Raukawa, and it’s important that we understand early on what their pathway will be,” Brooking said.
Programme funder Te Puni Kōkiri hosted a morning tea ceremony at which diplomas were presented and the achievements of the first group of students acknowledged.
Te Kurawai graduates in Heke Kawa Oranga: Diploma in Health Promotion and Sport and Exercise Science (with the year of graduation in brackets) are: Maia Campbell and Ishtar Mackey-Huriwai (both 2023), Kaiarahi Brooking-Haapu, Kane Soto, Kyan Ayton, Kaedyn Thrupp and Cheidan Moetara (all 2024).
