Early January saw around 120 of our extended Kāi Tahu whānau return to Arowhenua and to Te Hapa o Niu Tireni for the annual Kura Reo Kāi Tahu run by Kotahi Mano Kāika. This event has tripled in size since 2010, when it first took place at Arowhenua and while the new whare made things a little easier – feeding the multitudes for a week proved a great challenge for the kitchen team. Kura Reo is a Māori language wānaka for intermediate and above level speakers of te reo Māori with a major focus on our Kāi Tahu history and stories. Classes, which were taken by our own Kāi Tahu language experts, took place on and around the marae. Parents were also free to join in the classes with the tamariki being looked after at a tamariki programme at the kura next door.
As well as classes there was a lot of time set aside for whānau to enjoy a relaxing reo rich environment together. It was amazing to see so many tamariki and rangatahi talking, playing and generally having fun in te reo Māori. We look forward to welcoming the Kura Reo Kāi Tahu back in 2018.
Kura reo Kāi Tahu whānau at Te Hapa o Niu Tireni.