The wānanga were even more successful than they had hoped for. “We realised it was growing into something that was more than just the reo,” says Nola. “We were coming home, we were learning the stories of our whakapapa and visiting our culturally significant sites. We wanted to share it with more of the whānau.”
Sarah-Jane Paki, Patrick’s younger sister and a regular attendee of the wānanga, came up with a way to make it more accessible for whānau. She had always wanted to attend kura reo, which are week-long immersion courses, but struggled to juggle this with her parenting responsibilities. “On most kura reo, children can only come if they’re fluent in the reo. That was the reason I suggested we start our own in Moeraki, so that my children can come, they can see mama learning, and it gives them an incentive to learn as well.”
Ōtākou | Otago | Waitaki | 2010-19 | Education
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