Ko Ariana, ko Maria, rātou ko Taasha - Whakaahua / Kōnae
Ko te mahi a Maria, a Ariana, a Taasha Toetoe hoki, he whakamahi i te whanaungatanga, i ngā tikanga Māori hoki hei whakamauora i ngā rangatahi i tētahi whare tauwhiro rangatahi ki Tāmaki.
Nō Ngāti Raukawa te māmā a Maria Toetoe, i hihiri ki te mahi tauwhiro whai muri i tāna mahi tūmau i tētahi whare tauwhiro rangatahi i te tonga o Tāmaki i ngā tau o te iwa tekau.
I ēnei rā, he kaitiaki ia i tētahi whare tauwhiro rangatahi i Papakura, ko āna tamaahine hoki, ko Taasha, ko Ariana e mahi ana ki tōna taha, i Korowai Manaaki. E rima tekau ngā tau kāpuia kei waenga i a rātou e āwhina ana i ngā rangatahi.
“It takes a village to raise a whānau to raise a child, and in that sense, that's what we do,” te kī a Toetoe.
Nā ngā mahi a māmā, i toko ake te hiahia ki a Ariana i tōna tau 19 te pakeke, kia haere ki Te Maioha o Parekārangi, i Rotorua, ki reira mahi ai. Nāwai rā, kua hūnuku atu ia ki te tonga o Tāmaki, ki te mahi i Korowai Manaaki.
“I could never ask for any better people to be working with than my own mum and sister,” tā Ariana.
Ko Ariana, ko Maria, rātou ko Taasha - Whakaahua / Kōnae
I te Hōngongoi 2019, i hikina ake te pakeke o te rangatahi ka whiua e te ture ki te 18, kia wātea ai te hunga 17 tau heke iho te pakeke, te whakawāngia i ngā Kōti Rangatahi, kaua i te taha o ngā kaihara pakeke i ngā Kōti ā-rohe.
Nā tērā, kua nui ake te hiahia ki ngā ratonga tiaki rangatahi i raro i te Tāhū o te Ture, ā e māia ana a Toetoe, he nui ka taea e rātou ko āna tamāhine, te awhina ki te tika.
“Mum is a supervisor out in the field, I’m a team leader in operations here so I have staff that I manage and my sister, she is a programme coordinator", te kī a Taasha.
I Korowai Manaaki, e 80 ō-rau o ngā rangatahi kaihara, he Māori. Ko te whāinga ia, he tūhono anō i ngā rangatahi ki tō rātou Māoritanga, mā te mahi kapa haka, mā te karakia, mā te ako hoki i te reo Māori.
“Aroha, manaaki, being tika and pono, and we bring that to the everyday work by incorporating karakia, explaining to the rangatahi what these concepts are and how they can imply them in their lives,” tā Taasha.
Ko Ariana, ko Maria, rātou ko Taasha - Whakaahua / Kōnae
E ai ki ngā tatauranga o te wā a Te Tāhū o te Ture, ko te nui o ngā Māori 16 tau te pakeke i mahi hara anō i roto i te tau kotahi nō te putanga ki waho, i heke iho i te 57 ōrau i te 2015/16 ki te 45 ōrau i te 2016/17.
Ki tā Ariana, “If there is a group of people around one person including the iwi, hapū, ourselves as our Korowai community...for me that is creating a small community around this young person that will support them”.
Mā te aroturuki i te hīkoi a ngā rangatahi kaihara e 36 i Korowai Manaaki, ko te tūmanako nui o tēnei whānau, he whakahoki i te katoa ki te ara o te ora.