Kāhu ki Rotorua: Tēnā te ringa tango parihia - Unlearning bad habits and learning new ones for a better future

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He ara pāhekeheke te ara kua takahia e Anahera .

Mā te āta noho tahi me a ia e mātau tika ai te tangata ki te huarahi kua takahia e ia e tū wahine māia ai ia i tēnei rangi tonu. E kōrero tahi nei māua kai te rangona ōna uauatanga. Engari anō ka pīataata kau tōna wairua toa, ka mārama ai te ngākau he wahine whatiwhati kō e ora ai tōna whānau me āna tamariki. Koia tēnei ko te whakatauiratanga o te manawa kai tutae e ihi ai te rangatahi e para nei i te huarahi o te ao-pūtea.

He ahakoa kai te raka te māui, kai te raka hoki ai te mātau i ngā tini tangata pakeke kua puta mai ki te arataki i a ia, he heahea ētehi, he ngākau tika hoki tō ētehi. Ki te whakarongo i āna kōrero anō nei he rite ki tētehi whakaari tīwi engari hai tā Anahera – kōīa kōīa.

Kai te ara o Tāne ia e haere nei e haupūaroaro ana, e whakahauora ana ko te pae tawhito kai te anga atu ki te ao pūtea, e ai ki a Anahera he ao whakaohooho i ngā wāhanga katoa o te hinengaro. Ko te kitenga nui ōna, e noho kūare tonu nei tātou te Māori ki te ao -pūtea he kūaretanga heke iho i tētehi whakareanga ki tētehi whakareanga haere ake nei, haere ake nei, he kaupapa kāre e kaha kōrerongia ana me he rite ki te kaupapa ai tangata e whakamā ai pea tātou.

Ko te whakatū hua tētehi kaupapa kāre e kōrerongia ana ki te pirangatia he kame māu, mā te pūtea tēnā hiahia e ngata ai, rānei kua tāhuri ki te kimi moni i te pēke rānei ka whakamāhia tāu kari nama.

Kāre i whakahaungia e ngā pakeke ngā tamariki ki te kōrero pūtea kia mārama pū ai rātou ki ngā nuka katoa o te ao moni.

Nā ngā waewae aungohe ōna i te ao pūtea ka whakawhiwhia a Anahera ki tana kāri nama nōna e taiohi tonu ana e kotahi tekau ma waru noa tana pakeke te timatanga o tana haerenga pūtea nei.

'He ahakoa ka whakatupatongia a Anahera e ētehi, ka puta ngā kōrero tohutohu ki a ia pai kē atu ki te pena pūtea, engari a Anahaera nei, he manawa tere me rangona e te kapu o te ringa ināiā tonu nei, e mea ana kotou tāria te wā – hei aha noa atu tēnā kōrero ki ahau".

'Kāre kau tēnā kōrero ki ahau, me kaha te tangata ki te pena pūtea he mana tōna, anei pea tētehi atu huarahi e ora pai ai koe. Mai i te wā e kotahi tekau ma rima taku pakeke tae noa ki te wā e kotahi tekau mā waru taku pakeke e whakamomori moni nei ahau, e wāuna hoki Anahera – anei ngā kōrero o te hinengaro – e tino pēneitia ana ngā whakaaro o te rangatahi Poronēhia, ka nui taku kūare ki te mana o te moni, ko tāku kau – mēnā he taonga kai te hiahiatia mā te moni e ea ai tēnā hiahia'.

'Nā wai rā ka mātau ai ahau ki te mana o te moni – ehara kau ko te moni anahe, engari he mea whakahuri ai tōku ao'.

Kua kītea e Anahera tētehi rautaki pai māna, he mea kai te kaha kawengia atu ki ngā rangatahi hai awhina hoki i a rātou – ko te takahanga tuatahi nā wai ko te takahanga tuarua kia tataku noa te takahanga.

Kai te kaha whakapono hoki a Anahera – kua tīwawe noa tana hāereere me i kāua ia e whakatika i ōna tārau kua raruraru tonu ia. He ngāwari noa hoki tana rautaki – e rima tekau, kotahi tekau me te wha tekau anei te whakamaramatanga o tēnā kōrero.

Anahera shows us how she breaks down her debts by using online apps. Photo/Supplied

• E rima tekau paihēneti o tana nama, ka whakauru atu ki tētehi kaupapa whakangao hea, pēnei i ngā pukapuka kōrero rangatira, ko te whai mātauranga hoki tētehi kete whakakaha i a koe, rānei ki tētehi tangata whakapakari, arahi tika i a koe.

• Kotahi tekau paihēneti ki a koe tēnei tāhua – ara ko te hoko kai rāpihi ko te mātakitaki kiriata ki te arai matua rānei.

• E whā tekau paihēneti, ka whakatapungia hei utu i te whare mēnā kai te rīhi whare koe, he hoko kai, ko te hiko me ērā atu tūāhuatanga.

E mana ai tēnei rautaki, kia whā rawa ngā pēke pūtea-a-ipurangi ki a ia, ko tētehi ko te kāinga ka pēkengia tana moni mahi, nā wai rā ka tūhaina ēnei hei utu aunoa.

E iwa mano tā Anahera kai tana pēke Kiwi Saver nā tōna whāea tonu i tāti nō Anahera e itiiti ai.

Ko ngā kaupapa a wairua pēnei i te haerenga a whānau ka ea ai i tētehi kōpaki moni, kore ki te kotahi rau te wāriu, ka whiringia ohorerengia te wāriu ka pēkengia i ia wiki kātahi nā ka pēkengia, kāpuia katoatia ki tētehi anō nama moni.

Kua eke a Anahera ki tōna taipakeketanga e noho tahi nei ia me tōna māmā ki tō rātou kāinga i Rotorua. Kua hērea pūmau tōna ngākau ki ōna moemoeā pae tawhiti. Mō te wā nei he patu i te taniwha nama raruraru engari kai te whakatū hoki ia i ngā pou e kaha ai ia me āna tamariki a te pae tawhiti.

He uri nō Ngāti Te Takinga me Ngāti Wairangi tēnei wahine toa me te whainga nui ki te whakatū papa kāinga mō tōna whānau ki Mourea.

Ko te pae tata whakamaua, ko te pae tawhito whāia!

Life has not always been easy for Anahera.

To know her is to understand her and the journey life has taken her on which has brought her to where she is today.

It is evident throughout our korero that Anahera has had her fair share of life lessons and hardships. What is clear is her resilience and tenacity for success and achieving her goals, not just for herself but for her whanau as well.

Hers is an experience that could be motivation for other rangatahi as they navigate the unknown world of financial responsibility.

With multiple influences throughout her life, both positive and negative, Anahera has seen it all. Some may say her life reads like the manuscript of a television show, however Anahera says it is what it is.

She is on a journey of self-discovery and one aspect of that is a pathway to financial literacy – something Anahera fondly labels as mind-blowing. After working in Tourism and as a Kohanga Kaiako and still struggling to 'save', one of the things that have become clear to Anahera is the lack of financial literacy among many Maori and discovering that this is intergenerational and often a subject as awkward as sex education.

Building assets through various channels was not discussed, if you wanted something you paid cash or got a loan or credit card, tamariki were not encouraged to question their elders about such things as how they had accrued money or equity in property.

Without a solid foundation around financial education, Anahera obtained her first credit card and loan at the age of 18. That was the beginning of her financial journey, albeit on the other end of the scale.

Anahera Rangitoheriri - Ko tōna rite, he ururoa. Whakaahua/Homaitanga

"People told me to save up if I wanted something, but I wanted it 'now' not some unspecified time in the future.

"No one actually explained why saving was necessary or that there were avenues to do it.

"From the ages of 15 to 18 I had a 'poor me' mentality.

"Like many young Polynesians, I had no idea about money except that you needed some if you wanted things.

"Then I learned about financial literacy. It's not just about money, it's a life-changing experience."

Anahera has devised a system that works for her and her advice to rangatahi is to just do it, one step forward at a time.

She admits her progress would not have been possible if she had not pulled up her pants and just got on with the job.

Thanks to the influence by a Maori couple who share financial advice on Instagram @the.hiddenfigures, she has a simple recipe for dealing with finances — fifty, ten, forty.

• Fifty per cent of her income is set aside for investing in shares, including books, courses or a mentor.
• Ten per cent is for 'wants', discretionary spending such as takeaways and movies.
• Forty per cent is for utilities such as rent, kai, power, board.

For this she needs four online banking accounts, the other being where her income is banked and then distributed as automatic payments,

Anahera has $9000 in a KiwiSaver account started by her mother when she was a child.
One-off events like a whanau trip are covered by a $0-$100 envelope challenge where random amounts are selected weekly and banked in a special account.

Now in her 20s and living with her mother Nichola in Rotorua, Anahera has firm goals for
the future.

Aside from paying down debt and setting up investments, the uri of Ngati Te Takinga and Ngati Wairangi alongside her whanau are looking at setting up a papakainga at Mourea.