A site worth celebrating
Ehara tāku toa I te toa takitahi, engari he toa takitini
My strength is not as an individual, but as a collective
Te Ora Hou dreamed of a place where tamariki, rangatahi, whānau and hapori can come together, connect with themselves, each other, and their whakapapa.
On September 8th, along with over 500 members of the community, Te Ora Hou celebrated the opening of their new site.
The event saw different people from different avenues come together – from rangatahi who attend our youth programmes today, rangatahi of old who are now all grown up, local church and youth groups, supporting community organisations, corporates and businesses, whānau from Te Ora Hou centres around Aotearoa, manawhenua, High Schools that we work alongside with – all in attendance to support the kaupapa.
The day started with a pōwhiri, a formal traditional welcoming who had both Te Ora Hou and manawhenua on the pae.
Following this, we had Te Ora Hou of the past speak to their experiences over the years, including words from John Harrington, Chris Jansen, Danette Abraham-Tiatia, Marcel Wilkinson, Te Kooti Warbrick, Vicki Campbell and Jono Campbell.
The stories shared were filled with golden moments from the past, both heartfelt success stories, edgy old school youth work stories and a compilation of funny moments of the past – a walk down memory lane showcasing Te Ora Hou and youth work in Papanui through the 70’s to present day.
The storytelling session came to a close and manuhiri were invited to come through to the core of the site for some morning tea and to take part in the various activities available. This was the public’s first time getting a glimpse of Te Iho o Te Ora (the whare) and the new site.
Over morning tea treats, catered by Kai Connoisseurs, the vibe shifted to a more chill an informal setting, with hundreds of people soaking in the sun. The stage saw performances from Papanui High School’s Kapa Haka (some young people of whom we mentor and journey alongside with in our youth programmes) and Tyla Opetaia-Tiatia (young leader) who blessed the crowd with her strong and soulful vocals, accompanied by ex-staff member Junior Taula, who stays connected with us through Oranga Tamariki.
The rest of the afternoon consisted of interactive activities and static stations for people to partake in if they wished. All interactive activities focused on present Te Ora Hou, with the static stations focusing on the past and future of Te Ora Hou.
Static stations included (to mention a few) a wing dedicated to the history of Te Ora Hou with photo’s and memories of the past, which took old Te Ora Hou staff and young people down memory lane, a display showcasing Te Ora Hou Aotearoa, a room dedicated to Polyphony, our youth voice event – with art pieces from the past on display and a cinema-esque room, blacked out, that had a 3o minute video on loop, telling the site story so far…
Interactive stations included (to mention a few), a mini Pathplan Wānanga hosted by our Hapori team, a powerful story shared from the K3 Attendance team with a Q&A session, ‘Clubs in 15 minutes’ gave the experience of Monday Night Clubs in (you guessed it) 15 minutes, to give people the experience of what a typical youth programme would be like.
Lunch was served at 1pm and another powerful kapa haka performance took the stage, but this time from Hagley College, one of the newer schools Te Ora Hou have been intentional in connecting with.
The activities would come to a stop. At this point, the whare was once again open for viewing. The basketball court would host some competitive balling and the tables and chairs, now cleared of food, all still populated with people catching up and sharing stories and tales of their time at Te Ora Hou. A whānau of a community simply hanging out and being themselves.
We just want to thank everyone who came through to support us in our site celebration. Our stories led up to this milestone moment that will forever be etched in the history of Te Ora Hou Ōtautahi. Thank you for being a part of the story thus far and we hope you will continue to be encouraged to be a part of our story moving forward as we continue to put the mahi in with the rangatahi and whānau of the community for many years to come.
For all of our photos (photo’s by Peanut Productions Photography) : Click here
Support us
Now that our Site Celebration is over, the real work resumes with our kaimahi getting back to the ground to support the whānau and rangatahi of the community. For more information or to discuss ways to support our site development moving forward, please get in touch with a member of our fundraising committee.
Jono Campbell, General Manager 027 288 9797 jcampbell@teorahou.org.nz
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