Rangatahi Regeneration (RR) is a kaupapa that has supported nine rangatahi Māori/Pasifika from five rohe around Aotearoa over 2021/22. RR is about celebrating #IndigenousExcellence kaua e wareware e te whānau, our indigeneity is our superpower!
RR explores in depth each of the following: ‘Ko wai au?’, the art of facilitation, remembering and awakening their entrepreneurial whakapapa, and being trained to facilitate Mana Taiohi.
RR launched in 2021 with six rangatahi from around the motu, three of which returned in 2022 as tuakana to co-lead the delivery of the RR kaupapa with the new teina.
Rangatahi Regeneration is housed under Mana Taiohi Revolution alongside Ngā Kaihoe – a nationwide rōpū made up of Māori who serve taiohi, who advocate for our hauora as those who serve taiohi (young people). As this haerenga continues, we will see these two kaupapa become more intertwined.
Our moemoeā with RR is to promote and role model Whai Wāhitanga, how we can journey alongside rangatahi to lead these important kōrero around Mana Taiohi as the most qualified people to speak on te ao rangatahi, rangatahi perspectives and experiences.
We recently held our final noho for Rangatahi Regeneration 2022 ki Ōtaki. It began with the opportunity for our whānau to present to Ministry of Health and kaitautoko their experiences of RR2022. We spent most of our final noho sharing memories, kōrero, reflecting and most importantly celebrating each other and all that we’ve accomplished this year.
He wero
Our karere (message) and wero to organisations and practitioners who want to implement Whai Wāhitanga is to cast our minds back to when we were taiohi, think about those pain points, challenges, frustrations when we heard adults talk about the importance of taiohi voice but their approach to including and honouring taiohi voice was tokenistic and inauthentic. We are in positions of influence now where we can flip the script – pay young people what you’d pay a consultant, invite youth into spaces where there is no youth voice, hold people and organisations accountable when you can witness tokenism, ageism, discrimination and racism especially against taiohi. This is also an unapologetic reminder to all who are youth adjacent and working/serving young people, that you have done your dash being a young person and to not set up projects of what our younger selves wanted to do/be. We are there to journey alongside them, not in place of them as they dream-up, scheme-up and realise their dream lives.
E rere ana tō mātou aroha ki te whānau o Rangatahi Regeneration 2022 – Talei Bryant (Fiji, Pākehā), Timena Iuliano (Ngāti Wai, Tokelau, Sāmoa), Te Maungarongo Maarie Mareikura-Ellery (Te Ātihaunui-a-Pāpārangi, Ngāpuhi), Lourdes Lefaoseu (Mangaia, Sāmoa), Tokarārangi Poa (Te Ātihaunui-a-Pāpārangi), Summer Bell (Ngāti Ranginui, Whakatōhea), Kaz Hepi (Ngāti Hine, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Porou), and Michelle Rangiahua (Tūhoe, Tūwharetoa), Si Mareko (Sāmoa), Dayna Carter (Te Ātihaunui-a-Pāpārangi), Tyler Ngatai (Ngāti Porou, Ngai Tahu), Christina Leef (Kuīni o te ao) E rere ana o mātou mihi ki ngā kaitautoko o tēnei kaupapa – Vodafone NZ Foundation, Te Pūni Kōkiri, Mānatu Hauora – Ministry of Health. We acknowledge and appreciate your tautoko and belief in Rangatahi Regeneration and Ngā Kaihoe from 2020 to now.
