Tautoko Take Two
Written by Kaitlyn, Miria, Jasmine (Whakapakari Young Leaders)
On the 5th October, we met at Te Ora Hou Ōtautahi with all leaders & young people ready to make our way to our first destination. The centre of town, where seven groups engaged in an Amazing Race activity. From the first destination we were given a clue to be able to find the next destination. Clues were things such as “remember the shaking” or “the gorilla with ice cream”. Along the way, teams were running & putting all of their energy into it. There was laughter, talking & maybe even some yelling! Each team came up with their own team names and chant. At each clue there was also challenges, some were like “try and get a free gelato” or “take a picture in the water” or “dance for 10 seconds on the dance-o-mat”. Some of the challenges threw people off but regardless of how hard some of them were, the majority were completed.
Towards the end of the race, you could feel some of us were getting hungry and tired, but no one gave up! Everyone pushed through and made it to the final destination, Margaret Mahy park where we got to enjoy hot dogs for lunch. From there, we headed to New Brighton Beach for another challenge. A sand castle competition. There was also a challenge set to get yourself into the ocean, where the deeper you went under the more points you scored for your team. It was freezing & extremely windy, sand got in the eyes and in so many other places too haha. But everyone yet again did so well! Our last adventure of the first day was going out to the new Launch Pad Trampoline Park. The remainder of our energy was burnt off from the races across the tramps and the dodgeball games. Everyone loves dodgeball. It was a day full of whakawhanaungatanga, laughter, manaakitanga, adventure, delicious kai & aroha.
The following day, we were set up with a day of workshops. The workshops that were available were dancing, vocals, boxing, gaming and spoken word. It was easy to see and feel around TOH, that everyone was buzzing and enjoying themselves. Everyone was getting involved and tried something they may have been too scared to try. Personally, I enjoyed going around and photographing everyone and getting to see how much fun the kids were having. The food for day two was a highlight as well, but when is food never a highlights.
Day 3. Snow Day. Honestly… one of the best days in the books. To have experienced an adventure like that with the best people was so cool. I definitely seen some good changes in our young people, I noticed bonds getting stronger and new friendships being formed over the days. I definitely noticed the development of confidence in our young people throughout the programme, this was clearly showcased on the final day. We as leaders didn’t have to step in and break the ice, as our young people were doing it themselves. They all truly showcased the values that we go by at Te Ora Hou, it was amazing to see that out there in the snow. Going through the day, everyone was helping each other out, whether it was to assist in putting the gears on or even showing each other how to “stop by doing a pizza” lol. They were always helping each other up when one was down. Hearing so much laughter and words of encouragement. Honestly, it was amazing days and it was incredible to see that this young bunch had shown true aspects of being leaders. I would defs say that there were some professionals out there on the slopes for sure.
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