Inclusive Aotearoa Collective Tāhono | Update #19

Ni sa bula vinaka,

The days have been just chokka and all in a good way. Anjum and Nona finished an excellent road trip around Northland, the team conducted their first hui under the brilliant and efficient organisation skills of Talie, and then Anjum and Nona completed another road trip covering the western region between Wellington and Te Kuiti.

Sara is steadily working on sorting, compiling and analysing the pages and pages of data that come out of each conversation. We are now prepping for our next big event, the Christchurch hui. We will be running another South Island road trip just prior to the Christchurch hui. Details about this road trip are below.

And as always, we are ready to hold Zoom conversations whenever needed by those who cannot attend an in-person conversation. We have met so many wonderful and insightful people in the course of these road trips and look forward to meeting many more of you.

We hope you are all staying healthy this winter and avoiding the flus and other bugs going around. We continue to be grateful that Covid-19 has been controlled in New Zealand, and truly appreciate the opportunity we have been given to be doing this work in person.

Christchurch Hui: Sat, 15th Aug 2020 (2-5pm)

Are you based in the Christchurch area? Would you like to join our conversation? Do you know individuals or organisations we should contact about coming to the hui?

The Christchurch Hui is an opportunity to share experiences and ideas around what belonging feels like, what hinders this, and what needs to change.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to email Talie or call: 021 972 294.
REGISTER FOR CHRISTCHURCH HUI

The 2nd South Island Road Trip

Our second South Island road trip kicks off on Friday, 7 Aug 2020. We will start south of Christchurch and move south to Otago. In particular, we will be running five different session times for conversations at the Community House in Dunedin.

The schedule for this road trip is as follows – follow the links to register for an event:

Fri 07 Aug, 10.30am: Ashburton
Fri 07 Aug, 230pm: Timaru
Sat 08 Aug, 1230pm: Dunedin
Sat 08 Aug, 3pm: Dunedin
Mon 10 Aug, 930am: Dunedin
Mon 10 Aug, 12pm: Dunedin
Mon 10 Aug, 3pm: Dunedin

More dates …

To register your attendance, or if you can help to put a group together in the towns listed below, please email Talie or call 021 972294.

Tue 11 Aug : Gore (times to be confirmed)
Wed 12 Aug: Invercargill (times to be confirmed)
Thu 13 Aug: Queenstown (times to be confirmed)
Fri 14 Aug: Queenstown (times to be confirmed)

GiveaLittle

It was suggested that we set up a GiveaLittle page on our website for those who would like to contribute towards this project. Though we have wonderful support from funders, there will continue to be financial requirements to keep this project floating and moving forward.

The GiveaLittle button is now live on our website: Your donation will be used to support costs associated with holding conversations across New Zealand; development of the Strategy for Belonging and Inclusion; and implementation of key initiatives to support our vision.
DONATE

Aotearoa 2020Vision

Have a look at this campaign which has been designed to create space for you, our community, to share in a discussion about what your vision is for Aotearoa. Inclusive Aotearoa Collective Tāhono has contributed to this campaign, and we encourage you to check out their page.
AOTEAROA 2020VISION

Stories from the road

Anjum and Nona spent nearly two weeks travelling through Northland. The first stop, Whangarei, was full to the brim with conversations that took place over two days. A huge thank you to our wonderful hosts, Charlotte and Dave, who looked after us in Whangarei.

Our next stop was Kaikohe, where we met with a large group at the Far North chapter of He Waka Eke Noa, an initiative headed up by the amazing Jane Beamsley, who has put her heart and soul into this vital mahi. We continued our journey and met with several groups in Kerikeri. A massive thank you to our lovely hosts Lex and Peter Littler, who opened their home to us in Kerikeri.

We had an excellent visit in Kaitaia and again met with a variety of individuals that shared their insights about living in that area. Thank you to the Community Centre who let us use their space. On our way to Dargaville, we took a fascinating detour to Broadwood where we wished we had more time to spend to hear more about the enormous success they are having with creating a strong sense of belonging in their children.

After a morning in Dargaville, we headed to Auckland. Big thanks to Dixie Dolejs for putting us up in Auckland. We were glad to get home, though the turnaround time was short because next up was our first hui.

Whangarei mental health team

Kerikeri Baha’i Centre

Our short but sweet stop in Broadwood

Public health team in Kerikeri

In early July, Anjum attended a hui at Orākei marae, where she participated in a discussion around the kaupapa: how Māori rangatahi can be uplifted through building a greater sense of connection and belonging among those new to our shores.
Our hui in Wellington, held on 11th July, was an excellent start to running large events to hold conversations. Our Events Coordinator, Talie, outdid herself putting on a smooth and polished event that everyone enjoyed tremendously. Our appreciation goes out to our many facilitators and notetakers, to our volunteers Leilani, Adam and Michael, and to Karen Below, our on-the-floor counsellor. All of them did an outstanding job in helping the hui run seamlessly. And thank you to all our participants who took time out of their Saturday to share their stories and insights.

Some of the participants and volunteers at our Wellington Hui.
Our most recent road trip began in Wellington, with a great stop in Masterton where we met a diverse group of people at the multicultural centre.

Our next stop was Palmerston North, where friends and relatives kindly hosted us. Our Palmerston North days were jam-packed, as was our next stop in Whanganui where the Council room was overflowing with participants. We were very excited at the enthusiasm and the turn out of participants, which ran into two separate sessions.

We were fortunate to have a personal tour of the local Quaker community to learn how they run an intentional egalitarian community around their faith principles. Following Whanganui, we had stops in New Plymouth and Te Kuiti, and on the way, celebrated Anjum’s birthday at a beautiful west coast beach.

We are back in Hamilton for a couple of weeks, with our next road trip planning underway. Again, we are so grateful to all the participants who have so generously given their time and shared their experiences for this important mahi.

Multicultural Centre in Masterton

With a local councillor in Whanganui

Touring the Quaker Community in Whangarei with Michael and Merilyn Payne

Happy birthday Anjum!