Local Focus: Tautua Village allowing young people's voices to be heard and valued

Tautua is a philosophy of living.

To lead through your service to your community, your people, your land, your ocean and your gods.

Tautua Village in Gisborne was created with that kaupapa at its heart.

Malia Patea-Taylor, director and founder of Tautua Village, saw a need in the community to create a safe space for youth.

"When I look at these young people I want them to just live the best life and one that's free of unnecessary barriers," she said.

"We've seen a lot of kids who have developed anxiety and depression from bullying, being rejected, or yucky stuff.

"I want these kids to be able to live a life free of that."

With her background in education, Patea-Taylor saw many kids who were disengaged, feeling unheard, and feeling they didn't fit.

"I just thought maybe we should actually listen to them and support them to figure out what it is that they do want to engage in," she said.

With this in mind and seeing her child go through these issues, Tautua Village was born.

As a Samoan Māori, Patea-Taylor was well aware of the negative health and education statistics for Māori and Pasifika youth, but saw Tautua Village as a space to help bring change.

"It was important for me to say, we're going to be responsive about this.

"We're not those negative statistics and we have some solutions," she said.

Youth who attend during the day are enrolled in online learning.

Tautua youth counsellor Mahina Tauatuvalu said Tautua Village was a safe space, with everyone welcome.

"They make you feel like part of the family when you're part of this Tautua Village community," Tauatuvalu said.

Patea-Taylor said working with youth wasn't for everyone, but recommended that those who wanted to work with young people took time to think about whether they were making the right decision.

"I say that because the youth deserve good committed people who are going to build their self-esteem," she said.

Tautua Village manager Callum McCready has worked in alternative education for more than 13 years after teaching at high-school level.

He said mainstream education did not suit everyone, himself included.

"I opted out of the mainstream because I'm not a mainstream person. I didn't fit," he said.

McCready said he decided to work with the kids who also didn't fit into mainstream schooling - the "bit tutū" and "fun ones".

His role at Tautua Village is to find pathways for young people to find success in a formalised educational outcome, using the Tautua Village way of being youth-focused instead of outcome-focused.

"So it depends what we determine as successful.

"What does success look like for individuals?

"It might be NCEA for someone, and it might be to stop cutting themselves for someone else."

McCready said the ultimate goal in working with youth was a generational change.

"To equip young people with the skills that they need to be successful in their lives, so that in two, three generations, we're not looking at the cycle that we're dealing with now."

Kaea Horsfall was looking for a place to hang out after school and Tautua Village was the perfect place for him to harness his musical skills.

He met Malia and she introduced him to The Sesh, a concert run by Tautua Village showcasing the musical talents of rangatahi in Tairawhiti.

"So I did The Sesh last year and that turned out pretty good," Horsfall said.

Horsfall is partially sighted and said Tautua Village was "one of the most positive places I've been to".

"There are people to hang out with, there are a lot of things to do, and it makes me really happy," he said.

For more details see their website www.tautuavillage.com