Students embodying kaitiakitanga...

Well it was a big final week of term for our enviro warriors... so much so it's hard to know where to even start (beware, slightly long post ahead!) 🙃

From the chew card activity in the Pene Taka Loop & Pūriri Grove which spurred us into action with our traps, to the 'releasing' of kawakawa, our first ever actual tree climbing training session (more on this next week) and everything in between. There's simply too much for me to comment on in one post!

Self-guided - Kaitiakitanga

But as I looked back, I couldn't help but notice a theme that ran throughout... Our student's KAITIAKITANGA 🌏

Yes I know, this is a word so commonly used (some may say it's over-used). And yes we probably should widen our vocabulary and this may help us to better articulate what we're seeing... but it's the best word I've got at the moment to describe what I see in these tamariki!

To me, kaitiakitanga isn't an action, it is a way of being. And these children are blowing me away by how they're embodying this.

When this kaitiakitanga shows itself, not out of direction by another but through one's own inner urges, that's really something to be fostered and cherished 🙏

When I found a small karo flattened by a fallen tree. I started gently working to resurrect it and was almost immediately accompanied by the kids chanting, "save the tree, save the tree!" Then one decided to join me, relinquishing her newly found and treasured walking stick so it could stake and support the rākau.

Another group started collecting rubbish, totally of their own volition, and ended up collecting so much that Matua got coined 'the rubbish truck' he was so loaded up! 😅

Growth - Rangatiratanga

One child, who at the start of the programme was one of the shyer students in the group, was now proudly leading the group to show everyone the tree she planted last week... and she was also the initiator of the rubbish collection team too! 🥰

Watching kids grow like this is a beautiful thing, and we are so grateful for the light they bring into our lives.

I've said it once and I'll say it again, these are our kaitiaki of the future! And in times like these, we need as many of them as we can get 🌏❤️

Hope you all have a wonderful whakataa and we'll certainly look forward to reuniting next term.

Noho ora mai,

Matua Jake