He mihi aroha
To all our whānau, suffering the loss of loved ones at this time Awarua Rūnanga extends all our love and sympathy.
Rā whānau
Happy birthday to all those celebrating their birthdays this month.
Annual general meeting highlights
Our early childhood centre, Te Rourou Whakatipuranga o Awarua, will be looking at expansion in the future. This is due in part to demand and government policy advocating all pre-schoolers of beneficiaries need to be enrolled in early childhood training.
Currently the centre is licensed for 37 full-time placements, but it has 54 children registered. Attendance is rostered so that the centre’s cap is not breached and a further nine children are on the waiting list.
Five out of seven staff at Te Rourou are fully trained.
An invitation was received for Te Rourou to do a presentation at a Ministry of Education/Ngäi Tahu education forum in Dunedin. They were selected as an exemplar of a centre of excellence for raising Māori achievement. The centre’s head teacher, Shelley Manaena was ably supported by Trish Kerr and Andria Cross.
Awarua Synergy Ltd, as a 100 per cent owned subsidiary of Te Rūnaka o Awarua, became a major player in the local market, delivering warmer healthy homes when their much larger partner went into receivership.
Awarua Synergy recently received confirmation of their registration as a charitable company.
Of 22 staff employed by Awarua Synergy, 82 per cent are Māori and of that 61 per cent are Ngāi Tahu.
Year to date figures of visitors to Te Rau Aroha Marae visits between July 2012 and June 2013 total 4431. This includes students visiting from 21 primary and secondary schools from around Southland and Central Otago, Southern Institute of Technology, Te Wānanga o Aotearoa and the Dunedin College of Education. However, this figure does not include people attending weddings, tangihanga, birthdays, Māori Mass and other special occasions at the marae.
From left, Jacqui Gatward and Sharon Malofie.
Kā Pūtea Papatipu Rūnanga scholarships
Awarua Rūnanga is pleased to announce the recipients of Kā Pūtea Papatipu Scholarships 2013 are Mariana Pagan, who is in her third year of study at University of Otago, studying a Bachelor of Surveying; and Stevie-Rae Blair, who is in her second year of study at Southern Institute of Technology, studying for a Bachelor of Environmental Management degree. Both recipients have been awarded $750 each.
A busy September at Te Rau Aroha Marae
The latter part of September was busy for the marae with Sharon, our kitchen co-ordinator and her small band of volunteers catering for 590 visitors over 12 days. However, before the influx, marae staff and marae komiti members took time out to revalidate or sit their comprehensive first aid certificates.
Unfortunately, not long after this training, Jacqui our marae co-ordinator was hospitalised and has only just been released from hospital to complete her recuperation at home. All of us at the marae and rūnanga wish her a speedy recovery and hope to see her back on deck soon.
Election notice
The Te Rūnanga o Awarua Appointment Committee formally invites applications for the Te Rūnanga of Awarua Representative and Alternate Representative to Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu.
The Te Rūnanga o Awarua Appointment Committee is responsible for appointing the Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu Representative and Alternate Representative positions in line with clause 16(2)(c) of Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu Act 1996.
Applications open 8 November 2013 and close 5pm on the 6 December 2013.
For an application form, including eligibility criteria, please call Te Rūnanga o Awarua Marae office Phone: 03 212 6029 or email to [email protected] to request the forms.
Hana Morgan, Chairperson
Te Rūnanga o Awarua Appointment Committee.
Just waiting for some artwork to complete our newly-redecorated meeting room.
Rūnanga monthly hui
Monthly hui for hapū members for September and October will be held in the meeting room at the Awarua Rūnanga office – Hine Te Iwaiwa, 12 Bradshaw Street at 6 pm on the 16 October and 13 November, respectively.
Membership database
We are currently updating our membership database and have found that many members’ children have had children of their own who require registering. If you are one of these people we encourage you to contact us on (03) 212 6029 or email [email protected] to request registration form/s.
We also encourage those members who have changed residential or email addresses to update their details by contacting the rūnanga on the above number or via the email address.