April 16, 2024
Whiti Ki Te Ora lighting path ahead
A programme that brings young offenders on to a marae is proving life changing,
Operations manager Marama Castle-Brown says the 12-week Whiti ki Te Ora programme at west Auckland’s Hoani Waititi Marae in west Auckland was a response to chief district court judge Heemi Taumaunu’s 2019 wero “ko tenei” – that the time was right for change.
She says the wananga-style programme uses whakapapa and tikanga to allow the rangatahi to chart their course ahead.
“We see them come onto the marae day one, hunched up with a hoodie over their head. The must beautiful thing to see is that at the end of the programme the hoodies are down, the shoulders are straight and they will stand in front of a bunch of people and recite their pepeha, talk to people about where they are from, their maunga, their awa, their waka, their whanau, their hapu,” Ms Castle-Brown says.
Many of those who have been on the programme have gone back to school so they can get qualifications and jobs.