A kai for a koha café has been the hotspot for many Ōtaki residents this summer.
The Te Mauri Hā café built by students of Te Kura ā-Iwi o Whakatipuranga Rua Mano sits along the Ōtaki beachfront, where kaumātua gather to have a coffee and a kai.
Made from a flat-deck truck, the café runs on a koha-based system where customers can pay in cash or to the school.
Teacher Adi Leason says the community has embraced the café and is now contributing to its operations.
“We wanted to set up a café and run it for other people. But the people that we’re wanting to run it for have switched it up, where they are now taking over and they’re running it. It’s a beautiful thing, when someone has an opportunity to shine, to flourish, to have responsibility. There are folks who are sitting at home who didn’t have much to do; they’re now running a beautiful café at the beach, living their best life.”
He urupare ki ngā mōreareatanga o te wā
I whakatūria te wharekawhe nei i tīmatanga o tērā tau, hai uruparenga ki ngā āhuatanga o te wā, arā hai hāpai ake i ngā tāngata noho kāinga kore, kore rawa anō hoki.
I toko ake ai te whakaaro kia whakatūria te wharekawhe o Te Mauri Hā i ngā tauira tuākana, nō rātau e rangahau ana i ngā tuhinga o te ihumanea tautake Parīhi, o Paolo Friere me āna tuhinga e aro atu ana ki ngā āhuatanga o te wā.
Ā ko ngā āhuatanga ka tirohia e ngā tauira Māori, ko te mōrearea whare.
Hai tā tētahi tauira, tā Rangimārie Kara, he āhuru mōwai te wharekawhe mō ngā tāngata katoa.
“Ko tēnei café he momo wāhi hei awhi i ngā tangata kore rawa, kore kāinga, kore kai, he mea tuku ki te hapori o Ōtaki, ngā tangata katoa, ngā kaumātua, ngā tamariki, ahakoa ko wai.”
Hai tā te Manatū Whakahiato Ora, kua piki ake te hiahia o te motu nei ki ngā kāinga pai, nā runga i te mimiti haere o ngā whare hai hoko, hai rētitanga rānei.
Hai tā tētahi kaitautoko o te wharekawhe, tā Selina Metuamate, ko te whainga matua, ko te hāpai i te hapori.
“We want to build a healthy generation for our mokopuna and those to come for the future. So, that’s what this kaupapa is all about.”
He kōrero e hāpai ake ana i a Leason.
“This community project, this student café, came in response to that issue of ‘what’s going on?’ There is inequity and there’s some good folks struggling. Not just struggling for food, but also struggling for inclusion, belonging and somewhere better, somewhere to be.”
