"There was a turning point, a career switch, 30 years ago. Renee, my wife, and I were at a tangihanga in Te Teko for one of Renee’s cousins. After the burial and hākari, we got talking with Cathy Dewes, another of Renee’s cousins, about the school she had set up at Ruamata marae in Rotorua.
That’s when I realised that her kura kaupapa Māori was supplying what was missing from the Kedgley classrooms — and missing from the lives of other Māori kids in mainstream schools all around the country. For me, suddenly the lights went on. At Ruamata, there was the reo, mātauranga Māori, wairua Māori and tirohanga Māori. So we embraced that kaupapa with Cathy and Te Whānau o Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Ruamata and haven’t looked back since. The protester, activist spark in me was rekindled in all sorts of ways — and burns still.
Our six tamariki all attended Ruamata for varying lengths of time and it was there we really got to learn about Te Aho Matua (the power of aroha and the importance of wairua). We also got to see kura kaupapa Māori as a unique, valid, and essential education option for Māori and for Aotearoa." - Rawiri Wright
Source: E-TangataTe Moana-ā-Toi | Bay of Plenty | Rotorua | 1980-89 | 1st kura kaupapa opens | Story is by tangata whenua
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