Barbarich-Kohere brothers of Gisborne running Mangapapa bin business

The Barbarich-Kohere boys are five entrepreneurial brothers who are offering a service to people in Mangapapa to help with their rubbish bins. Pictured at the Gisborne Botanical Gardens are, from top left, Andreaz, 12, and Xavian, 13; front: Jayden, 14, Zion, 11, and Kyrie, 11. Photo / Kim Parkinson

Five entrepreneurial brothers are doing a service for their Mangapapa community in Gisborne – helping the elderly and others in need put out and bring in their rubbish bins.

The twist? They’ve traded in overalls and gardening gloves for suit jackets and formal gloves while carrying out weekly bin duties.

The Barbarich-Kohere boys range in age from 11 to 14 years old. The youngest Kyrie and Zion were born 10 months apart and are both 11, Andreaz is 12, Xavian is 13 and Jayden is 14.

Charging $5 a week per bin, the boys’ goal is to service the elderly, less mobile or holidaying neighbours and save towards a trip to Sydney and the Gold Coast.

Their mum, Louise Barbarich-Kohere, believes people, especially those from the older generation, appreciate them being well-dressed.

“It makes people realise they are professional and trying to do a good job,” she said.

The boys and their older sister, Tyra, 21, were born in Sydney, Australia, where they lived in Penrith in the Western suburbs.

The family moved home to New Zealand in 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We were lucky because we could self-isolate at my mother’s place at Whakatutu in the Coromandel,” Barbarich-Kohere said.

The brothers share a love for gaming but otherwise have wide and varied interests.

Andreaz loves biking and swimming as well as carving and farm work.

Xavian is the tech whiz of the family and has built his own Minecraft server. He is also into music, skateboarding and rapping.

Zion is a music lover but also loves sports, especially rugby, league and football.

Jayden is the petrol-head of the family, with an interest in cars. He also loves hip-hop.

The youngest, Kyrie, is keen on Lego and enjoys music.

He gets his love of music from his dad Mokena, and is into hip-hop, rap and R&B.

Three of the Barbarich-Kohere brothers aka The Bin Brothers Gisborne: Kyrie (left), Jayden and Zion.

The Bin Brothers idea was something they came up with as a family.

Their social media-savvy parents and older sister are working together to get the word out.

“We thought it was a good way for them to learn good values, and it would be something that encouraged them to interact with the community and get to know the people around them,” Barbarich-Kohere said.

It also gets them outside and off their devices.

“We really enjoy it – we like being our own boss, but Mum and Dad help too,” Xavian adds.

The boys went to Mangapapa School but moved to Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu (Te Kura) for correspondence/homeschooling this year.

They are also available for “odd jobs”.

There is one neighbour who used to be a farmer and owns a quad bike.

“He takes the boys out on his quad bike to pick up fallen trees on his property, then they help him chop firewood.”

The brothers were just back from snorkelling in the marine reserve at Tatapouri with other Te Kura students when they arrived for the interview at the Gisborne Botanical Gardens.

On Thursdays, they meet other Te Kura students at the Haututu Hacklab, a community hub in Peel St.

Their parents said they had to be very structured in terms of timetabling to make the homeschooling effective, but so far, it was going well.