The evening was a relaxed and enjoyable affair with the warm welcome by Kingi, the students, principal Uenuku Fairhall and board chair Ruiha Ruwhiu followed by karakia and kai.
Following the delicious kai, we were treated to an entertaining evening by the various entertainers and, as someone commented, it was nice to see each other away from a tangi.
That got me thinking about the importance of hui in our lives.
In Te Ao Maori tangi and attendance at tangi are a high priority.
We do our best to make it to tangi for various reasons including honouring the person or people who have passed, grieving alongside the whanau pani, listening to outstanding te reo and immersing ourselves in the tikanga of tangi.
Many people unfamiliar with tangi practices would not understand that there is often a lot of laughing at tangi.
That's just the way we do things.
Hui such as the fundraiser are rare in Te Ao Maori.
Many kura and organisations opt for fundraiser activities such as sausage sizzles, raffles, housie and gala days.
Not that there is anything wrong with those fundraising hui, however I take my potae off to the parents, staff and students of Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Te Koutu for stepping out of the normal ways of fundraising and taking the risk to be different.
The Kura Kaupapa Maori o Te Koutu event seemed indicative of our Maori development in recent years.
We are stepping out of the norm and developing our Maori economy which now sees Maori contributing over $42 billion to the national GDP.
Each year more Maori trusts and businesses break the $1 billion asset base mark and fly below the radar doing it.
Kura Kaupapa Maori have always been good for our people with statistics proving time and again the excellent rate of success for Maori who attend Kura - and that is just the students.
The success, whanauangatanga, manaakitanga, matauranga and other aspects enjoyed by the parents and whanau whanui is immeasurable.
As the Maori economy continues to evolve I am sure we will see more events such as the evening with Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Te Koutu.
Like many kura around the motu we are sending our tamariki from Te Arawa on journeys of excellence and learning which will stand them in good stead for their future and our future.
The hidden curriculum is the development happening for whanau and friends in the background.
Ko te manu e kai i te miro, nona te ngahere, ko te manu e kai i te matauranga, nona te ao.
The bird that eats the Miro seeds replenishes the forest, the bird that partakes of knowledge, replenishes the world. Kia kaha kia maia tatou.
- Ngahihi o te ra is from Te Arawa and is a professional speaker, author, businessman, husband and father. www.ngahibidois.com.
