Kaiwaha / Kaimanaaki

Now most blog spots have 1 author - but I thought that would be really boring & way off the kaupapa (philosophy) of MANO MATAHI.

The project is co-ordinated by myself, but most of the work is done by a group of people I like to call MY FUN-TASTIC, FAN-TASTIC FRIENDS & FAB-ULOUS WHANAU. They are this really awesome group of dedicated & motivated kohanga reo whanau from across Ngati Kahungunu who our office admin KOKA STELLA describes as "just too good for words..." because not only are they doing this mahi (work)... they're doing it voluntarily!

In each taiwhenua (district) within our rohe (region) there are a number of kaimanaaki (guardians / caretakers / project leaders.) Their main task is to do my job at a local level - that is, to keep the fires of motivation burning bright, to collect up any information that might be out there & to bring it all together. They work with me to critique what we get in, to sort it out & generally pretty-fy it up so that it fits into our idea of what we want.

Now the kaimanaaki work with the kaiwaha. This is another term in maori which literally means - one who carries on their back. The kaiwaha are those tirelessly faithful people out in the individual kohanga reo, who have decided to join the movement & carry this project at a grass roots level - i.e. they do the actual work, they come up with the ideas, share the ideas, trial other peoples ideas, and generally tell the kaimanaaki what works for them & what doesn't.

The goal is for there to be at least 7 kaiwaha in each local area, one of whom will step up to be kaimanaaki. So far we have an awesome looking team in TE WAIROA under the auspices of the ever wise Whaea Colleen, and another group of talented individuals in AHURIRI who are in need of a guardian.

In TAMAKI-NUI-A-RUA there is another whanau, currently all on her own, but pretty much thats it - there is no-one in HERETAUNGA (kai hea koutou e ngaro nei...???) or TAMATEA, and no-one in WAIRARAPA. For now.

But as that soulful jazz classic of Kahungunu Waiata says -
Ko wai ka hua, ka tohu? - Who can say or know what will happen?

Hope that explains that