I am a migrant who has spent half of my childhood in New Zealand. Through those years, i have grown deep appreciation for te reo and the Māori culture. The constant effort that the hapori has put in to ensure that the Māori culture flourishes has influenced me to embrace a part of myself that I subconsciously hid due to the influences of colonisation back in my homeland; which is my indigenous roots as a Filipino. I am extremely grateful to be a part of a society that puts effort to keep the Maori culture alive. It has inspired others like myself to acknowledge our own indigenous roots, rather than hiding them with shame. Because of this, I am grateful for the Māori community for giving me this realisation. My way of saying “thank you” is to be an active participant of normalising the use of Māori greetings or phrases in New Zealand. I pledge to myself that I will be a part of the change and influence the future generation to embrace te reo and the Māori culture.
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