16 Dec Growing the Puna internship 2020/21

Growing the Puna is a workforce development approach to help grow the Māori health and disability workforce by exposing Māori tertiary students to Māori approaches to kori tinana and kai oranga within our communities. Toi Tangata’s Growing the Puna internship programme has successfully been able to offer five internships this summer. We are really excited to be working with a range of talented students from across the motu this year. 

In July 2020, we were fortunate to make connections with AUT University and have Bree Mccauley-Scott complete her Bachelor of Sport and Recreation placement with us. She has a passion for her iwi and community near Te Teko, and her local kohanga reo. Bree wanted to contribute to the nutritional aspirations of the kohanga reo in her community, so decided to link up with Toi Tangata’s He Pī Ka Rere programme and start a small research project. It helped that she knew just about everyone in the kohanga! That’s whakapapa connections! 

We congratulate Bree on meeting her aspirations, and collecting the voices of kaimahi within the kohanga reo about their aspirations for our mokopuna AND graduating with her Bachelors Degree. 

Over the summer months, we have five new interns working on varying topics that we are all really excited about! 

In partnership with the University of Auckland (UoA) Nutrition and Dietetics programme, UoA sponsors an internships hosted by Toi Tangata. We are so delighted to have Wanakia Heather-Kingi as our internship recipient. Her topic looks into ingoa and whakapapa Māori of the main essential elements, including iron. needed for good nutritional outcomes. 

Wanakia Heather Kingi, University of Auckland 

Tēnā koutou katoa. My name is Wanakia Heather-Kingi Waiaua. I grew up in Tāmaki Makaurau with my parents and my brother till I finished high school, following this I lived in Australia for 6 years before returning back to Aotearoa to study. My interests include cooking nutritious food, looking at ways to lower my impact on the taiao, getting outside and active with my kuri, photography, and exploring our beautiful whenua – Aotearoa.  

I have almost completed my Bachelor of Science degree majoring in Food Science and Nutrition at The University of Auckland. With this degree I aspire to become a registered nutritionist, which I can qualify for following two years of work in the nutrition and health field. I would love to work within the Maori community to not only help individuals but to work alongside whanau as well. I’m interested in preventative healthcare through lifestyle interventions such as diet and exercise and to work to improve Māori health outcomes as the rates of obesity and non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and heart disease are high among Māori. 

I look forward to the Toi Tangata Growing the Puna internship. Prior to studying nutrition, I knew I wanted to work alongside Māori, this internship will be a great opportunity to see what it would be like to work for a Maori health organisation. From this internship I hope to gain a better understanding of Māori public health nutrition and to be able to apply a Māori lens on the knowledge I’ve gained at university through the application of mātauranga Māori. I look forward to gaining some practical experience and working and improving on my research and writing skills through the small projects and to gain confidence in my public speaking skills through the research interview project as well as at the hui-a-tau. 

Toi Tangata is also excited to host two internships funded through the National Heart Foundation, contributing to small research that will inform the pool of knowledge about Māori aspirations for Oranga Kai, Oranga Tinana.  This year we have Kurt Grayson from the University of Auckland, who has just completed a nutrition degree. His topic investigates approaches to wai oranga in communities across the motu including iwi involvement in water quality to nutritional information that all contribute to the mauri of our waterways being well. 

We also have Samantha Kamariera from the University of Waikato who is learning about Māori food systems and approaches to kai sovereignty in her local area. 

Kurt Grayson, University of Auckland 

Ko Whetumatarau te maunga
Ko Awatere, ko Karakatuwhero ngā awa
Ko Hinerupe te marae 
Ko Te Whanau a Hinerupe te hapu
Ko Nukutaimemeha te waka
Ko Ngati Porou te iwi
Ko Kurt Grayson toku ingoa

I was born and raised in Te Awamutu, a small town in the Waikato. Throughout the years of moving further and further away from home, I have come to value and nurture whanaungatanga with friends and whanau who constantly ground me and support my goals. Although I still have a lot to learn, playing the guitar is also a great passion of mine. I find that consistent exercise aids in both physical and mental health, which provides a foundation for me to build goals and aspirations.

My value for health and wellbeing has been nurtured through studying food science and nutrition at The University of Auckland. I am in my last year of nutrition and wish to encourage positive health outcomes through monitoring dietary intake, you are what you eat! Applying this knowledge to benefit the wider community would give me great satisfaction and motivation. I would love an opportunity to create a positive change throughout Aotearoa, where hauora can be obtained by all.

I believe this internship will provide a platform from which my aspirations to promote health throughout Aotearoa can be realized. The knowledge and experience I hope to gain from Toi Tangata will allow for a great expansion of my mātauranga and Kaupapa. I also wish to build whanaungatanga within the health sector by meeting and interacting with new people.

Samantha Kamariera, University of Waikato

Ko Tinana te waka
Ko Tumoana te tangata
Ko Whanatauatia me Taumatamahoe ngā maunga
Ko Karirikura te moana
Ko Tangonge te wai
Ko Korou kore me Te Rarawa ngā marae
Ko Ngāti Moroki me Ngāti Te Ao ngā hapū
Ko Te Aupouri me Te Rarawa ngā iwi

I am a city girl who was born and raised in Palmerston North. However, Ahipara is where my whānau links are. I have only last week graduated from Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato with a Bachelor of Health, Sport, and Human Performance, majoring in Human performance science and minoring in Psychology. I aspire to help others not only reach their highest potential physically but also aid in overcoming their mental challenges, especially those within the Māori community. Whether that be through the likes of rehabilitation and returning to function, strength and conditioning, or sports specific training to name a few, I will give my all in doing so. I believe that the opportunities and experiences within this internship will provide me with a deeper understanding of Te ao Māori within the public health sector.

This internship is my main focus over the summer period and one I am looking forward to working on.

Toi Tangata also provides internship focussed on specific kaupapa that helps deepen the puna of knowledge not only for the interns, but for whanau and community that would benefit. 

Zayden Tane 

I am born and raised in Tauranga Moana, however, my family ties to Waikato, Ngāti Manipoto and Gisbourne, Ngā Ariki kaiputahi. My interests include rugby, mātauranga Māori, health, and spending time with friends and family whenever I can. I am currently a student at The University of Otago in my 4th year studying towards a Bachelor of Health Sciences majoring in Māori Health. My aspirations after completing my degree are to help improve and prevent diseases and other health issues among Māori as we have the highest rates in New Zealand. My main interests are mental health and oral health, however, improving health as a whole is my passion. Providing Māori and all people of New Zealand with the tools and knowledge to improve their health is what I am striving to achieve. I believe to achieve this we as public health workers need to make health services more available and to provide supportive environments for people that suffer from oppression and racism. I hope to learn and gain a lot of experience from this internship to increase my own knowledge to prepare me for the public health sector in the future. 

My project will investigate kaupapa kori tinana and kai that Toi Tangata delivers in relation to Te Marautanga o Aotearoa, the national curriculum for Wharekura. 

Enoka Wehi 

Ko Pukehāpōpō me Ahitītī ōku maunga
Ko Waiomoko me Waipaoa ōku awa
Ko Horouta me Takitimu ōku waka
Ko Ngāti Porou, Te Aitanga-a-Mahaki, Te Whānau-a-Apanui, Te Whakatohea me Ngai Tūhoe ōku iwi
Ko Ngāti Konohi me Ngāti Waahia ōku hapu
Ko Whitireia me Parihimanihi ōku whare
Ko Whāngārā-mai-Tawhiti me Waihīrere ōku marae
Ko Enoka Wehi tōku ingoa

I am from a small settlement known as Whāngārā, approximately 35 km north of Gisborne on the beautiful East Coast. Made famous in recent times by the feature film produced from Witi Ihimaera’s story, ‘The Whale Rider’, Whāngārā is my slice of paradise. I finished High School at Ngā Puna o Waiorea and am currently in the final stages of completing my Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Auckland. Some of my interests include spending quality time with whānau, keeping fit and catching up with friends. From this internship I hope to further develop my understanding of Matauranga Māori and I am excited to learn about the policies Toi Tangata use to promote healthy lifestyle habits. I hope to build positive relationships with organisations across Tāmaki Makaurau and look forward to learning under the guidance of Hauora professionals.

For this internship, I will be completing a project looking into what type of physical activity approaches our Māori communities implement that include matauranga Māori. 

I am excited to be a part of the Toi Tangata whānau and look forward to the next few months ahead.

Ka nui aku mihi! 

Nau mai koutou mā ki te whānau o Toi Tangata!