Kāhu ki Rotorua: Whānau key to making learning dream a reality

Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air

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He motuhake a Te Pākārito kai ngā parepare o Te Koutu e tū ana kua rēhitangia te whare kōhungahunga kia noho tauira mai ngā tamariki e toru tekau mā rua te rahi mai i te kotahi mā rua o ngā marama tae atu ki te ono o ngā tau te pakeke. He mea taka iho mai tō rātou ingoa i te pepehā o Ngāti Whakaue mātua i te māngai ake o Tunohopu tāna e kī ai, "Hai aha noa ahau te mate ai, ko taku Pākārito ka tupu".

He take tō te ingoa nei i tīpakongia ai e ngā matua o te whare kōhungahunga. He kupu whakarite ki te tupu matomato o te harakeke. Engari ko te whānuitanga o te titiro ko te nanao atu ki ngā whakamiharotanga katoa o te ao taketake. Mā ngā hua mātotoru o te ao e tika ai, e kaha ai te tupu o te harakeke. Ko tētehi o ngā rangatira o tēnei whare mātauranga ko Tiffany Te Moni, he toki e kore e tangatanga i te rā kia hua mai te rētōtanga o te hiranga mō te hemo tonu atu tōna whakapau kaha kia eke te ihu o tōna waka i te kapu o te ngaru. Me pau te rua tau e wātea ai he kuhunga ki tēnei whare mātauranga inā hoki te kaha pīrangitia kia hono mai ngā tamariki ki tēnei kura ngākauwhakaiti.

E titiro pae tawhito hoki a Tiffany me tōna hiahia ki te whakawhānuingia tō rātou kāinga ako, nā tēnei matapopore ōna kua hokonga e ia te whare wātea ki tāhaki. Ko tētehi o ngā taupā nui ko te korenga o ngā pouako māraurau whoi anō kai a ia hoki te whakautu – Whaowhia te kete mātauranga. Me mātau ngā pouako, mā te aha i te tohu paetahi whakaako kōhungahunga. Tokowhitu katoa ngā pou mahi, tae ana ki te kaiawhina me te kairīwhi. Nā te mea he puna reo Māori anahe te wāhi me māori hoki te arero o ngā Kaiako. Āpitihia ki tēnei ko te mārautanga katoa he Te Arawatanga.

Ko tētehi anō o ōna kawekawe pākihi ko te mātanga hāpai e kīa nei ko Houmai he whakarāpopotanga o te ingoa o tō tātou tupuna a Houmaitawhiti. Kai te kōkirihia tēnei waka ināianei i tetehi kirimana mā Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga. Kai ngā kāinga o te puku o Waikato tēnei waka e tere ana me te poitō o te waka ko te kura nui ko Te Pākārito. Hei tā Tiffany ka āhua mōrearea ētehi o ngā whānau e kuhu mai ana ki te wahatieke o te whare kōhungahunga nei, mā te āta noho i ngā parirau o Houmai ka mārie ai te whatumanawa ka ngāwari noa te whakawhiti i te whare kōhungahunga ki te kura tuatahi. Koia nei tōna pikopiko o te rangi.

He ahakoa kua pahemo noa ngā tau e rima me i kore tōna whānau kua kore e pakari mai tōna moemoeā. " Ko taku moemoeā ki te whakapūare tōku ake whare kōhungahunga ki tō mātou ūkaipō kia pūkīore katoa mai aku kiri tata, kai tā wāhi kē te nuinga o rātou, kāre anō ki a hoki mai ētehi mō tetehi wā roa whoi anō ka tata te wā whakapūare i tō mātou whare kōhungahunga ka puta te reo aituā kua taumaha tō mātou whaea kēkē a Iri. E tata hemo ana. He kore hiahia nōna ki te whakaroa i te whakapūaretanga hai tāna ki ahau, ' ki te hemo ahau a te Tūrei, ko mana kē te ōtā o ngā tio, whoi anō ka tae mai hai te rā o taku nehu".

" E hika – nānā tonu tana tangihanga i whakatakoto – e hemo ana tō tātou whāea kua hoki katoa mai aku kiri whānaunga".

The Haronga homestead.

Nō te rua tekau mā iwa o Hanuere i te tau e rua mano kotahi tekau mā whiti, ka hemo a Irirangi Te Kowhai ( nee Haronga) Ae, koia tētehi o ngā mōrehu o te mate pukupuku. I mate te wiki whai mai i tana whakawetohanga i tana mihini pūrere tātari. He tuakana taina a Irirangi rāua ko Aroha te whaea o Tiffany. I taua rangi tonu ka karakiangia tō mātou kāinga e ngā tohunga nui o Te Arawa a Mataia Keepa me Anaha Hiini. Ka puarengia ngā tatau ki te iwi.

E waiata ana a Tiffany i te mutunga o te whaikōrero a tana tāne a Stephen, ka hotuhotu tana manawa ka heke ngā roimata i ōna kanohi kāre he mutunga he horuhoru, he kotokoto, he aroha. Ka ūpoko hirahira ai e mātai ōna kanohi ki tētehi o ana whānaunga ka tae mai te mōhiotanga kua hemo tōna whaea, kua mate a Iri. Nā reira ko te whakamihi a Te Pākārito ki tō rātou kuia ko te rā whakahirahira he rangi tunu paherowa, tētehi o ngā keke rangatira o tēnei tohunga tunu kai.

Ka whakaeke mai te manuwhiri ki te whare kōhungahunga ka rangona te mahanatanga o te whenua me te whānau, i ētehi atu taimā ka rere te wairua hamumu. E nau mai ana ki te tini tangata haere mai haere mai.

English Translation

Te Pākārito is an independent early childhood learning centre at Koutu licensed for 32 tamariki from 12 months to six years.

The name is taken from a whakatauki by Ngati Whakaue tupuna Tunohopu:

"Hai aha noa ahau te mate ai, ko taku Pākārito ka tupu. It matters not if I die, for I live on in my descendants"

The name brings life to the whakatauki which refers to a mass growth of flax, a self-sustaining eco system which uses all elements of nature to flourish. All individual elements have an integral role in the life and future of the plant.

Owner-operator Tiffany Te Moni demands the best for her tamariki and is prepared to go the extra distance to get it. Te Pākārito has a two-year wait list and Tiffy has bought the house next door for the next stage of her journey.

Lack of suitably qualified teachers is slowing her down but Tiffy has an answer for that too: Train your own.

Tiffy demands that kaiako in her centre hold at least Bachelor of Early Childhood Education degrees. The total immersion centre has seven staff including a kaiawhina and kairīwhi. The curriculum is Te Arawa based and reo dialect.

Te Pākārito has a second business arm, Te Pākārito Education Consultants which provides professional development services, and a programme named Houmai after our tupuna Houmaitawhiti, a three-year Ministry of Education contract. They work mainly in the Waikato district taking Te Pākārito philosophy into homes.

The Haronga homestead in Railway Rd transformed into Te Pākārito.

Tiffy says that, for some whanau, going to a kohanga or school is a scarey business. Their consultancy helps build confidence in continuing learning and helps the transition to primary school.

Houmai goes out into the community, engaging kids and going into homes as well as kohanga.

Tiffy finds the work particularly rewarding.

Five years on, she pays tribute to her whanau in helping her to achieve her dream.

"My dream was to open my own centre at the homestead and I wanted all my cousins and whānau there when we opened it. That seemed unlikely as many of them were all over the motu and overseas and hadn't been home in ages.

"Then, three months before we were due to open we got the terrible news that Aunty Iri was terminally ill. She didn't want to delay the opening and said to me things like 'if I die on Tuesday the catering food I've ordered for my nehu day hakari will be here on time ' so not to disrupt the planned opening date of Te Pākārito. She told me that I was to open no matter what happened.

"She organised her own tangi, the marae catering, and even planned the day she would pass. All the whānau came home to farewell her before she passed, which also meant that by chance they were home to attend the opening of Te Pākārito which meant the world to me.

"She made that dream a reality for me by bringing the whānau home."

Irirangi Te Kowhai (nee Haronga) a breast cancer survivor who died about a week after turning off her dialysis machine, on January 29, 2017, was a sister to Tiffy's mother Aroha. That same day Te Arawa tohunga Mataia Keepa and Anaha Hiini, blessed Te Pākārito at sunrise, declared it open.

While Aroha was doing a ceremonial karanga she noticed several shooting stars overhead. Iri had told her baby sister she would send her a sign of shooting stars when she passes.
Following that Tiffy was singing in support of her husband Stephen during the speeches and suddenly started sobbing for no reason and couldn't stop.

As the song ended she looked up to her brother who was on the phone and was given the news Iri had just passed.

So Te Pākārito mokopuna also mark Aunty Iri's day when they make pavlova and quiche some of her signature dishes.

"Aunty Iri taught me many life long lessons which I am grateful for and am determined to pass those treasures on in her memory and celebrate her every year at Te Pākārito."

Visitors to Te Pākārito comment on the warmth and welcome they find there, and sometimes, they can even hear Aunty or Nan humming and singing in the whare.