E aru ana tētahi tari akoranga ki Te Teko kia whakarite i te hunga rangatahi Māori mo te mahi ki Te Moana a Toi . I roto i te whā tau, kotahi rau, toru tekau mā rima ngā rangatahi Māori kua whakaritehia e te rōpū ngāhere o Tane Mahuta mo te mahi ki roto i te ngāhere. Inaianei ko te whakawhānui haere i te kaupapa te tirohana nui. Ko D'Mani Bristowe-Rikihana tētahi o ngā rangatahi Māori toru tekau, kei te ako, ā, kei te mahi ki roto i te ngahere ki raro i te rōpū o Tane Māhuta. Mo Simon Geddes tētahi o ngā kaiwhakahaere mo Tāne Mahuta NZ Ltd “ko ta mātou kaupapa, he whakaako i te hunga rangatahi kia mahi ki runga i to rātou whenua”. Ko te mahi o tēnei rōpū, he whai i te hunga rangatahi kua taka ki te hē, ka ahei hoki ki te whakauru atu ki tā rātou kaupapa mo te tekau mā waru marama ki te ako, i ngā mahi ki roto i te ngāhere. Mo te nuinga o rātou koinei anake te huarahi mo ratou ki te whai i te tika . “Ka uru au ki roto i te raru, ā, ka heke mai au mai Tāmaki Makaurau. Ka mauherehia, ā, i whakaaro ake au he pai tēnei mōku kia kore au e taka ki te hē” ki tā Bristowe-Rikihana. Ki tā Geddes anō “i te wā i hoki mai mātou, whā tau ki muri, karekau o tātau rangatahi i te mahi ki runga i to rātou whenua”. Ko tā rātou hiahia kia whakawhānui haere, ko rātou tētahi o ngā rōpū tokowha nō Te Moana a Toi, ka whakawhiwhi i ētahi pūtea mai te kaupapa He Poutama Rangatahi ki raro i te Minita take mahi. Mo Hemana Eruera tētahi o ngā kaumātua o Te Teko “mai tērā pūtea hoki o te poutama rangatahi, ana kua hōnore nei tēnei rōpū”. Toru tekau te hunga rangatahi huri noa i Te Moana a Toi kei te mahi ki roto i te ngāhere. Mo ētahi o ngā rangatahi kātahi anō kia puta mai te whare-herehere. Hei tā Wini Hahipene-Geddes tētahi o ngā kaiwhakahaere o Tāne Mahuta “kia noho taru kore, ka kōrero mātou ki ngā āpiha o te ture kia whai wāhi rātou ki te hara mai ki te mahi”. Ki raro i tēnei pūtea, rua tekau mā wha te hunga rangatahi hōu ka whai wāhi ki roto i te kaupapa.
Regional | Forestworks NZ