Because I want to be at my Marae, listening to the stories of the days gone past and of the people who have passed on too but I want to be able to understand FULLY these stories. Not just pick out bits and piece together keywords to get a half pie version of the whole story. I want to get up and say my pepeha, where I am from and who I come from without rehearsing it in my mind nervously 100 times waiting for it to be my turn to speak. I want to laugh at the marae when a joke is told because I UNDERSTAND the joke, not because everyone else is laughing too. I want to speak to my children in Te Reo and for them to know exactly what I'm saying to them because this language is OURS. I get scared for our language to become extinct so I am attempting to be the change that I want to see in this world. I am PROUD to be a MAORI and I want to be a proud Maori speaking Mana Wahine too!!!! This is my why.
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