Mihi Ki te Atua, MIhi ki te mate, Mihi ki te ora ,Tehei mauri Ora.
Ko Maungapohatu toku Maunga
Ko Matatua toku Waka
Ko Tatahuta to Marea
Ko Tuhoe toku Iwi
Ko Haremate Kutia Toku Ingoa and welcome to my interesting world.
I am of Maori and Pakeha and Philipino decent.
Today In my presentation, I will be discussing my culture, values and beliefs in relation to contemporary New Zealand in a slide show form and my knowledge system. So ladies and gentlemen welcome to the interesting world of Ms Haare.
I am the eldest of three children and have a great privilege in being my sibling's money bank, advice giver and sometimes there wrestling demonstrator as well as being an amazing sister and daughter. Having grown up with my immediate whanau in our housing New Zealand house in Glen Innes we were raised in a home of three meals a day, playing the last card and forcing my brothers in being my back up dancers I was Beyoncé and they were Kelly Michelle. Life was all fun and game in our house playing backyard cricket was a highlight on our summer days and watching what now on Sunday morning was awesome with the holiday’s being filled with my cousins.
Being of Maori and Pakeha descent, I have learnt about both sides of my heritage. I was raised in a home where English was the common language but being exposed to Te Ao Maori through my late Grandmother. As a child I became more curious about my Maori words and explored the language from a young age, I have always been very passionate about my culture and very involved in Kapahaka in my community. I also believe that I have applied what I have learnt about Tikanga in our lives at home. Having gone back to where my Nanny is from Ruatahuna in the Uruweras and is buried I was encouraged to discover that I had missed out on so much of her upbringing and the way she lived her life in the Uruweras. I felt a real connection to my Maori culture and loved listening to stories of my Nanny and her siblings on Pa. I enjoyed living two weeks in the bush with no reception, no technology hardly any power cold showers and killing a wild hog as well as riding quad bikes and wild horses in the open. And driving 45 minutes to the next town to go to the grocery store. I became more grateful to have finally experienced and found a sense of belonging and a place to call home and made me become more appreciative of the way of living for both my grandmother and my ancestors. The opportunity for this allowed me to take my son back to my roots and been able to educate him about the land, the Marae and the old home that still stands was rewarding being able to install knowledge into him and watch him become excited about being Maori and seeing him become grounded in himself and becoming more proud of his culture.
A lot of my values and beliefs come from my community. I grew up in a part of Auckland that was labelled the hood. Having more alcohol stores than it did churches and being exposed to gangs around me I grew up to realize that this didn’t have to be my life.
With this, I had to change the way I dressed, spoke and the way I conducted myself. I chose to live a life that was true and right and has many of my family, friends and church family to help me come to terms with this realization. That just because I had a kid at a young age does not mean my life has to be over. I grew a great passion for my environment around me and wanted to set an example for other families around me. Having been exposed to these surroundings I made a commitment to not be like everyone else around me and made a chose to be better not just for myself but also my nine-year-old son.
I guess you are wondering what may have been the influences that I have had around me to change my way of thinking. It will definitely come from my church family and my immediate family which influence myself to benefit my nine-year-old son. The way the showed me how love taught me to love others as he does. There influenced me to be kind, influenced me to be compassionate and to love and serve others. Taught me how to still be cool when things don’t work out. I guess there influenced as a mother has had a great impact on influencing my child made me realize that he deserves a great life. Not being second best to anyone or to anything. Being able to provide my son with a great education at a private school and being able to provide him with a better life regardless of where we come from.
My community in which I love and have been serving has definitely helped shaped me into the woman I am. And a great passion for kids and families in my neighbourhood. The impact they have had in my life has abled me to be almost like a role model and show them that we can strive to succeed. Being a young mother from the same neighbourhood and grow in ways that is possible and live a life that is true and right.
As I conclude my presentation, I leave a video clip of a community that is cheering for me 100 per cent of the way and want me to aspire to my dreams and be the best social worker I can be. Not just for my little family but for all families around my neighbourhood.
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