Pamper days are a great way to connect with the community.
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See below for English translation
He iti noa nā te aroha
Kātahi te whakahīhī o taku hinengaro e mea nei e pai ki a ia tēnei mea te kaumātuatanga. Kia āta wherangia tēnei whakaaro ōku. Pai ki ahau hai kaumātua ki taku kāinga, ā, ko Rotorua taku kāinga he ahakoa kua aua noa atu taku tou ki ngā koko huhuao te motu mō ngā tau e whia kē kua pahemo. Kua rangatira katoa ahau i te hunga rangatahi i taku hapū me taku iwi.
Hei aha noa atu aku āmuamu mō ngā toa hokohoko koretake ki te puku o te tāone rānei te take e mimiti ana te ngāngāhūtanga o te tāone ko te ihi kai te mana o te iwi, ara kai ngā tini tangata o te hāpori.
Nōku te whiwhi nui kua whai wā ai ahau ki te noho me ētehi tangata ngākau māhaki o tēnei tāone nōku e tuhituhi nei mā Kāhu Ki Rotorua.
Nā te mea e hoa mā. Kua puta atu ahau, kua whai take aku waewae, kua whai take taku arero. E hoki kau ana ngā māharatanga i mua i aku mahi tuhituhi mā Kāhu ki Rotorua kāore au e tino kaha ki te whaiwhai ki te whakarongo i ngā take ā iwi he waka kotahi noa taku e hoea na.
Nā ka patua tātou e te māuiui urutā kua tae ki taku kāinga ngā pīoi e kawe mai nei he kai māku me ngā taonga huhua noa atu.
Ka noho mātou ngā kaumātua he tuku i ngā kame ki ngā mokopuna ki ngā pōtiki me ngā iramutu ko te hunga kore mahi nā te māuiui nui nei rātou i tūruki ai engari e whai tamariki tonu ana rātou.
Ka nui ngā mōkete, ka iti te moni. Kai te orerore tonu ngā waha e ngunguru ana te puku engari he maramara noa te kai. Engari anō ahau, kua puta ahau ki te haere he waimarie nōku ka kite mai te rangatahi i aku makawe hinahina kua manaakingia ahau, nā reira taku pai ki te hunga rangatahi.
I tino kite ai ahau i tēnei wairua nōku e hoki mai ana i Tamakimakaurau ki ngā rā whakamaumaharatanga mō te hū o Rotomahana. E pukumahi ana ngā tauira o te kura o ngā kōhine he kaha nō rātou ki te whāngai i ngā tauhou me ngā manuwhiri me tā rātou rangatiratanga hoki. Kātahi nā ka huri taku ihu ki ngā whakataetae mō Te Matatini i te kāinga ki roto hoki o Kahungunu me Te Whanganui-a-Tara kai reira rātou , te hunga rangatahi – te pahi tou tīrairaka, rere ana te puehu.
Nā taku tūnga mahi nei hei rīpoata kua tae kē ahau ki ngā hui tini ngerongero e hoa mā kāore rawa nei au e tae ki tēnei taumata hui e koeke ana. Kai te rehurehu tonu aku kanohi ki te whiore o tēnei huarahi hoki kai te kōnehu e huna ana. Kāre e kitea.
Tērā tētehi wiki i tae au ki ngā hui e whā he rerekē katoa ngā kaupapa. Ko te kaupapa taonga Māori tētehi hui, ko te tikanga o te kōrero nei, he aha tēnei mea te mana whenua e ai ki a tātou ? ko tetehi anō take ko te raruraru nei o te tāone ara ko te hunga rawa kore, kāinga kore. Kātahi nā ahau ka tae ki taku hui whakamutunga, ka wehi katoa taku ngākau.
Ka tae ahau ki Toi Ohomai he hui nā Te Arawa Lakes Trust i whakarite. Taku taenga ki te kura nā, ē ī , kua karanga mai tētehi ko te kaupapa o te rā he rā morimori kaumātua. Nā Kim Richards te paraoa pārai ko Toni Waaka te pou urungi o te waka nei, engari anō hoki ko te hunga taiohi. I panipani o mātou matiwae, i tarotaroa ngā makawe , ko Alix taku pou manaaki i ahau.
He rā ataahua ki te noho tahi me te hāpori he whakawhiti kōrero, he mirimiri, he manaaki, ā, he morimori wairua. Koia kai a kotou ngā tauira o Toi Ohomai, kātahi nā! Nā TALT anō i whakarite tētehi rangi pēnei tonu mā Tūhourangi-Ngāti Wāhiao nō mua i tō rātou haerenga ki Rarotonga nō te whiore o te marama o Hurae. Kāore ā rātou manawa kōrero, kai te mau kaha tonu nā tā kotou manaakitanga i a rātou.
Nō tō mātou rā morimori he kotahi tekau mā rima katoa mātou. He ruruhi nō Hinemihi me Hurungaterangi, kātahi nā ka tae he tokotoru nō Ngāti Whakaue.
He rā panipani, he rā mirimiri. Ka titiro atu nā ahau ki ngā kuia nō Hinemihi, kai te piataata ngā matimati, ngā maikuku me ngā matiwae e ngarungaru ana ō rātou nā makawe, ka tika hoki ki a piataatangia rātou i mua i tā rātou rerenga ki Ingarangi. He wha tekau mā waru katoa o ngā uri o Hinemihi e haere atu nā ki Rānana me Tiamana ko Ngā kohinga Whakairo o Hinemihi Trust, Tarawhai me Tūhourangi te pahi haere nei .
Snaps from the Tuhourangi-Ngati Wahiao kapa pamper day before they left for Rarotonga. TALT staff Toni Waaka-Hohepa and Kim Richards make sure things run smoothly while on the opposite page the late SallyAnn Roberts enjoys having her hair washed.
Ko Hinemihi whare whakairo te kaupapa o te haere nā. Nō te tau e rua mano kotahi tekau mā iwa i noho katoa a Ngā Kohinga Whakairo o Hinemihi, te Tarati ā Motu nō Ingarangi me Te Maru o Hinemihi nō Ingarangi ki te whakatakoto tikanga e pā ana ki te whakahokitanga mai o Hinemihi ki Aotearoa. He kaupapa whiti tēnei. Ka hoki mai tō tātou kuia ka whakairongia e ngā tohunga tētehi whare whakairo hou hai manaaki i ngā uri katoa o Aotearoa.
Ka tū te wharehou ki Clandon Estate. Ka nui hoki a rātou mahi, he wānanga, he akoako, he whakangāhau me te hui. Nō rātou hoki te waimarie nui ka moe ki te poho o Rauru i
Hamburg e tū nā i Tiamana. Wheoi anō haere rā e hoa mā, hoki ora mai. — Na Raimona Inia i whakamaoritia
I never thought I would say this but I'm getting to love being a kaumatua.
I should expand on that: I love being a kaumatua at home. And Rotorua is home, despite my having lived in other parts of Aotearoa for nearly 50 years.
Our young people and our hapu and iwi make me feel valued.
It doesn't matter that I moan about the empty shops in the central business district or that our town is losing its lustre as a top tourist destination.
It's the people who make the difference.
And I am really fortunate to be part of such a loving, caring community and most of that has come about since I started writing Kahu Ki Rotorua.
That's because I have to get myself out and about, make connections.
The pre-Kahu me took only a cursory interest in community affairs, I was used to doing my own thing. When the first Covid lockdowns started groups in our hapori came around with food and care packages.
They also had grocery vouchers. We pensioners shared our bounty with our nieces and nephews who had lost their jobs but still had children to feed and mortgages to pay. If I went out anywhere my silver hair meant I would get preferential treatment by our rangatahi.
I have never taken that for granted and such treatment reinforced my liking for teenagers and young people generally.
I first noticed our rangatahi were special when I used to come home from Auckland for commemorations of the Tarawera Eruption.
Students from Rotorua Girls' High School were helping out at Lake Tarawera to make sure people were fed and watered. And they did it with such grace I really admired them.
Then when I went to Te Matatini competitions at home and at Kahungunu and Wellington that respectful treatment continued.
I have attended more meetings as a koeke than I ever did as a reporter, and I can't see that coming to an end any time soon. In fact, in one week I went to meetings of four different koeke groups ranging from discussions about our historical taonga to what mana whenua can do about the homeless problem in our town.
But the icing on the cake was an experience I wasn't expecting: A pamper day at Toi Ohomai, all arranged by Te Arawa Lakes Trust.
And pampered we were by TALT staff with kai (including to die-for fried bread) provided by Kim Richards. Cousin Toni Waaka-Hohepa kept us company and made sure everything ran smoothly.
This is a great initiative which I can't promote enough. As someone who barely brushes her hair, I had no idea what to expect but decided to have a cut.
I was attended to by a very pleasant young woman called Alix.
Pamper days are a great way to connect with the community and also provide essential practical experience for the students at Toi Ohomai.
TALT arranged a pamper day for Tuhourangi-Ngati Wahiao kapa before they went to Rarotonga at the end of July and that was gratefully received.
On our pamper day, all up there were about 15 kuia from Hinemihi and Hurunga and three more whanaunga arrived from Ngati Whakaue to have pedicures.
The Hinemihi kuia had the works, pedi-mani, waxing, hair cuts and colour as they were leaving for Europe only a few days later.
They are part of the 48-strong Te Hono o Hinemihi who are on exchange to the United Kingdom and Germany representing the interests of Rotorua based, Ngā Kohinga Whakairo o Hinemihi Trust, Tarāwhai and Tūhourangi.
In 2019 Ngā Kohinga Whakairo o Hinemihi Trust (NZ), National Trust (UK) and Te Maru o Hinemihi (UK) Agree in Principle for the historic carvings of Hinemihi to return to New Zealand, in exchange for new carvings to continue the tradition of a living meeting house at Clandon Estate.
