November Update: Celebrations and Learning
Kia ora e te whānau,
There is so much to celebrate from the past few months, including being awarded the Canon Oceania grant (thank you to anyone who voted!), students showing their solar learning to Newsroom journalists and welcoming Te Waiora, our amazing Kaituitui (Project Coordinator), to our team.
Read on to learn about all this and more...
1. Ngā Kaupapa Whakanui - Celebrating
Introducing our amazing Kaituitui
Sarah, Jojo and Te Waiora
We welcomed the wonderful Te Waiora Wanoa-Sundgren (Ngāti Toa, Ngāti Raukawa, Te Atiawa ki Whakarongotai, Ngāti Mutunga, Ngāti Rangatahi, Ngāti Porou) to our whānau. She is our new Kaituitui (Project Coordinator) and will be supporting the introduction of the Solar Suitcase programme into kura kaupapa Māori starting with a pilot programme in Te Pihipihinga Kakano Mai i Rangiatea (TPKMIR), Taranaki, where she was once a student. She is really excited to be a part of the Kia Kotahi Ako whānau.
Winnners of the Canon Oceania Education Grant
For our final pilot, we are working with Te Pihipihinga Kakano Mai I Rangiatea Kura Kaupapa Māori (TPKMIR), in Taranaki to co-design an iteration of We Share Solar founded on the kura’s philosophy of Te Aho Matua and Matauranga Māori. He kaupapa whakahirahira tēnei, this is an amazing project!
Kia Kotahi Ako and Te Pihipihinga Kakano Mai i Rangiatea Kura Kaupapa Māori were also announced the winners of Canon’s Oceania Grant. This gift of Canon cameras will provide an opportunity to showcase mātauranga Māori and indigenous approaches to climate action and give students the opportunity to capture their ideas.
We are excited to document this journey with the whānau whānui of Te Pihipihinga Kākano Mai i Rangiātea with the support of Toi Foundation to share our passion for the kaitiakitanga for the taiao (care of our environment).
A successful primary pilot of We Share Solar
We completed our third We Share Solar pilot project with South Auckland-based Homai Primary School. 20 students took part in the programme and discovered that solar energy can help you save money, can help individuals without access to electricity, and students can charge their phones. Great feedback was received including:
95% of the students would love a similar initiative again
86% of students now have a greater interest in solar power
Please click the link to read more about our recent trip to Homai School, with our partners Helios, where the students became TV stars for the day as part of a Newsroom climate change series.
2. Ngā akonga - Learning
Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori- On the 14th of September we celebrated the 50th Anniversary of Te Petihana (The Māori language petition). We posted some kupu hou (new words) and tips to our social media sites, if you haven’t seen these already check them out and give us a follow :)
3. Ko Ngā Pātai - Asking
1. Homai Primary - Students at Homai are researching EV Vans for their community that can be powered by the school solar panels. They have been writing to manufacturers but so far have had no luck.
Do you know anyone who could help the students out with connections or funding?
2. Become a supporter- as you can see we have lots of great projects underway and this is only the beginning of the collective impact we can have. If you, or someone you know, is interested in supporting our mahi (work), we'd love to connect. We also welcome financial support-you can contribute as a one-off, monthly or yearly donation via Open Collective or contact Sarah directly to discuss how we might work together.
Ngā mihi maioha,
Sarah, Te Waiora, Jojo and Huia on behalf of all the wonderful Kia Kotahi Ako whānau.