E mahi kore ana a Donna Grant, he matanga kapa haka no Te Arawa, mona e arotakehia ana e te tari hara taware, whai muri i te maeatanga o nga whakapae i te he te whakahaeretia o etahi tohu rehia i Te Whare Wananga o Awanuiarangi.
E kimi ana a Donna i tetahi roia hou i tenei wa hei kawe atu i te kaupapa ki te tari harataware. Ahakoa ko te roia tuawha mai ano i te pakarutanga mai otekaupapa nei ite timatanga oOketopa, hei ta Pene, ko te tino putake otekoha he whakangawari iteutu.
"Ko te whakaaro, kei te eke haere nga nama mo te korero ki nga roia. I whakaaro ake me pehea e whai wahi ai to matou whakaaro nui ki te whanau", te ki a Pene.
Kare ano te ture kia whakatau mena ranei he hara o Grant, na reira e mea ana a Pene, me taunaki tonu i a ia, na te nui o ana whakapaunga werawera ma nga kapa o Te Arawa, otira, ma te motu.
"He tangata tonu, kare e taea te ki kua oti nga raru, engari ko te whakaaroke, me tautoko a Te Arawa i a ia. Nana ano i whakapau kaha mo nga kapa i roto i nga tau kua taha ake."
Kaore etahi o te iwi i te whakaae ki te koha a te kahui kapa haka o TeArawa, na runga i te kino o nga whakapae e iri tonu ana.
"Ki au nei, he wa kei te haramai e puta ai nga whakataunga -tera tera. Kei te aroha ake ki a Donna, me ki, kua tino raru i nga whakapae nei. Kua whakarerea ia e te ao, me whai whakaaro ki a ia," ta Rangitihi Pene.
Te Arawa Kapa Haka Charitable Trust has given a $10,000 koha to besieged kapa haka performer and tutor, Donna Grant and her family.
In an exclusive interview with Mangai Nui the trust's Te Matatini delegate, Rangitihi Pene, said the donation was a gesture of support for the whanau who were "extremely burdened."
"They're really down, so we needed to help lift them. We were thinking of a way to help ease the pain of what they're going through at this time,"he added. Mr Pene was referring to the scrutiny Mrs Grant and her company were under following allegations of irregularities in programmes ran by tertiary provider,Te Whare Wananga o Awanuiarangi in Whakatane.
Mr Pene said the trust needed to stand by Grant "for the amount of good work she had done for Te Arawa and Maori across the country."
The trust comprises delegates from kapa haka from within Te Arawa. At its recent hui in Rotorua, world renowned performing arts expert Wetini Mitai-Ngatai put the idea forward in support of Mrs Grant. While not all delegates were present, Mr Pene said all those who attended the hui accepted the motion after lengthy discussions.
He said the $10,000 came from trust funds, "Some of the money we got for hosting the Te Matatini National Festival last year, some of it we raised for last year's regional competition and some of it was given to the Arawa region by the Te Matatini Board."
As a result of the initial investigations by the Tertiary Education Commission in to what appears to have been inadequately run performing arts courses, Mrs Grant resigned from Awanuiarangi and the Warriors rugby league board in October and is currently the subject of a Serious Fraud Office investigation. Pene says, the koha is to help Grant, who is now looking for her fourth lawyer.
"The intention is to help take some of the load off as legal fees are mounting."
"She's only human,"Mr Pene said. "We're not ignoring the seriousness of the allegations, but Te Arawa should stand by her."
"In my opinion, the truth, whatever it may be, will surface. That's that. But my heart goes out to Donna, she's burnt. She's been exiled by the world, we need to keep that in mind," he said.
