Kahu ki Rotorua: Kereama Heke growing future for whānau through electrical apprenticeship

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He tangata whakatō moemoeā e ngangahau ai tana whānau a Kereama Heke, koia i hikingia e ia te tūnga ika tauhou ā hihiko i te marama o Maehe i te tau e rua mano e rua tekau.

Nō te wā e mahi ana ia mā Scott Electrical i White Street ka tae mai tēnei koroingo ki roto ki tona ngākau ko te wā tēnei i rāhuingia te motu katoa nā runga i ngā mōreareatanga o te mate urutā āpitihia hoki ko te whakakorenga o te utu ā tauira mō te rua o ngā tau i whakaturia ake hai akiaki i ngā tangata kia tahuri mai rātou ki te ao mahi, ka moumou noa ēnei kaupapa, ka haukotia ngā waewae o ēnei e te pirimia a Jacinda Ardern ka hinga ki raro.

Nō Ngāti Whakaue, Ngāti Uenukukopako, Ngāti Kahungunu ki Heretaunga, Ngāti Porou me Ngai Te Rangi a Kereama.

Whai tamāhine ai a Kereama rāua ko tōna wahine rangatira a Katie i te Oketopa i te tau e rua mano kotahi tekau mā iwa.

Ko Kyah Lisa Kataraina Heke tōna ingoa. Ka mārenatia rāua i te Hānuere i te tau kua hori nei, e noho tata ana rātou ki ngā mātua o Katie i Tauranga.

I whānau mai i pakeketia mai a Kereama i te tāone matua katoa o Rotorua, hai tāna, a Ōwhata nā reira tana tāngaengaitanga ki tōna ūkaipō koia hoki hai Poutiaki mā Te Kuku o te Manawa, he pāwhakairo Māori onamata, me tana kaha tautoko i tōna pāpā a Matt ki ngā hui a hapū, a iwi hoki.

Tata ki te toru me te hāwhe ki te whā o ngā tau te roa o tana nōhanga hai tauira-a-hihiko nei, ia wiki ka kura pō,kia tika tana taha tuhituhi o te mahi.

Ka whakahurangia te utu-a-kura, ka rua mano tāra mō ia tau te taumahatanga. Hai tāna, he mātauranga kura tēnei kaupapa nā reira e tika ana ki te tono pūtea I a Tiki te kohu, engari kāre e whakaaengia nā te mea kārekau he whakaaro ki ngā kaupapa waihanga pēnei I taku kaupapa ako.

He tauira ia nā Aotea Electrical he wāhanga hoki tēnei no te kamupene a Aotea, ko Adams Electrical tō rātou ingoa taketake. Ko Adam Harlick te rangatira o tēnei huinga pākihi.

"Hai tāku kia oti ahau I taku tauiratanga hai te tau e rua mano e rua tekau mā wha, kātahi ahau , kia noho tonu hai poumahi mā Aotea Electrical ko te whāinga mātua he whakapakari I ōku mātauranga a mahi nei. Ko te pae tawhiti ko te whakaara ake I taku ake pākihi ko te kaupapa mātua he awhina kau I te iwi kia haerengia hoki te ara kua oti kē I ahau te takahi.

"Ka nui hoki te pirangi kia māori kau te arero. 'Ko toku wawata nui kia pērātia ki toku koroua me toku matua tāne a reo Māori nei. Ko rāua tahi nō te whakatupuranga i pēhingia kia kāua e whitawhita te reo me ōna wāhanga katoa o tō tātou ao Māori engari e kōrero Māori ana rāua he ahakoa he reo tuarua kē.

"Ko te paepae tōku e wawatahia. He whakamihi nāku ki tōku pāpā ki a Matt Hemi nōna i tuku iho te māuri o te puna mātauranga ki ngā paiaka o te rākau, whoi anō kai te whai whai mātauranga tonu nei ahau kāre i tu atu i te noho ki ngā rekereke o te whānau ki a wawara kau te rere o te puna mātauranga."

Ko Katie tōna amo he pouako hoki ia ki te Kura o Mamaku kai te whānau hoki tēnei tū āhuatanga ko te nuinga o rātou he pouako kura.

Kereama Heke and whanau. Photo / Supplied

'He tauira pakeke toku whāea, he pouako ia inaianei ki Rotokawa, nō te ao pūtea kē tōku matua tāne he tauira pou mōkete ia, ā kai te Taumata o Ngāti Whakaue iho ake hoki ia e mahi ana. Kātahi nei tōku tuahine ka whakawhiwhia ki tāna tohu pouako mai i te whare wānanga o Waitaha nā reira i ūpoko mārō taku aronga ki te huarahi oranga mōku me taku whānau.

"E toru mārama ahau e noho tauira nei ka rāhuingia te motu ka uru mai te āwangawanga ki a mātou ko taku whānau i runga i te kore mōhio mēnā rānei ka whai mahi tonu ahau, he mea e kitea ana ko te hinganga o ngā tiini pākihi me te tāpae hoki i o rātou poumahi. I ora mātou i te kāinga o ōku matua i Ōwhata i tā mātou hokitanga mai ki te kāinga, ka tapu katoa te motu –he pēpi hou hoki tā māua e rima marama noa ōna tau nā reira anō te māharahara nui.

"Pai ke atu te tūreitanga tēnā i te noho koretake ki te whai i ōū moemoeā, hai tāku, māuri mahi, māuri ora! Mahia te mahi e whakawhiwhia ai te toa ki ngā tini reka katoa. Kai te huarahi ngātahi te mahi me te kaingakau, he oranga o te ngākau tēnei haerenga ka pupū mai ngā whakamīharotanga katoa.

"Ka pakeketia te tangata i ngā tini pūkenga rangatira ka taka iho ki a ia, ko ēnei taonga katoa hai tikitiki mō tō rae."

Kereama Heke wanted to grow a future for his whānau so took up the challenge of an electrical apprenticeship.

While working for Scott Electrical in White St, Kere decided to take up an adult apprenticeship in March 2020, just as the first lockdown hit and Jacinda Ardern abolished training fees for two years in a bid to encourage people into the trades.

Kereama (Ngāti Whakaue, Ngāti Uenukukopako, Ngāti Kahungunu ki Heretaunga, Ngāti Porou,Ngai Te Rangi) and his wife Katie had a daughter Kyah Lisa Kataraina Heke in October 2019. They married in January this year and keep close contact with Katie's parents in Tauranga.

He was born and bred in the capital of Rotorua, Ōwhata, and has close ties to his pa, being a kaitiaki for Te Kuku o te Manawa, the Maori reservation at Owhata, and attending whanau hui with his father Matt.

His apprenticeship will take between three-and-a-half and four years and every week he attends night classes for the theory side of his mahi.

When fees kick in, they will be approximately $2000 a year. He believes apprenticeships are tertiary study and should be eligible for Tiki te Kohu grant which was not specific or intended for the trades.

His apprenticeship is with Aotea Electrical part of the Aotea Group, formerly Adams Electrical. The franchise owner is Adam Harlick.

Kereama Heke wanted to grow a future for his whanau so took up the challenge of an electrical apprenticeship.

"I aim to finish my apprenticeship in 2024, and then plan to continue working for Aotea Electric and gaining more knowledge and experience. At some point in the future I would love to start my own electrical business and help others in my Iwi to start the journey that I am currently on."

Kereama is keen to become more fluent in te reo Māori.

"I aspire to be like my koro and father who were affected by colonisation where te reo Māori became their second language. One day I may speak on the pae like those before me! I am grateful for my father, Matt Heke who has passed on his mātauranga of our whakapapa. But I am always learning and love engaging with my whānaunga to gain more knowledge."

Katie, who has supported Kereama along his journey, is a kaiako at Mamaku School and many of Kereama's family are also teachers.

"My mother was a mature student who is now a Kaiako at Rotokawa, my father spent most of his life working in finance/the bank and is now studying to be a mortgage broker; alongside working at Te Taumata O Ngati Whakaue iho ake.

"My sister recently graduated as a kaiako from University of Canterbury. All of this inspired me to be the best I can be and to build a future.

"I was 3 months into my apprenticeship when NZ first went in to lockdown. This was a scary time for my whānau as we didn't know if my job would be safe, especially as many businesses were laying off staff at this point. We were lucky enough to have just moved home with my parents in Ōwhata just before lockdown began, which was a great financial relief, as we also had a 5 month old baby at this time.

"It is better late than never to begin your career. Mauri mahi, mauri ora! Do the mahi get the treats! The hard mahi and kai ngakau is worth it for all the new experiences, knowledge and skills you will gain."

-Nā Raimona Inia tēnei pūrongo i whakamaori