An initiative by
Nōna Te Ao Charitable Trust
in Partnership with EPIT
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
The E Tipu E Rea programme works alongside rangatahi to keep them in school and facilitate their pathways into meaningful futures. Offering training, pathway planning, and annual residential wānanga, the program broadens horizons by exposing students to various institutions and successful Māori role models. With over 100 rangatahi supported over four years, the initiative has notably increased school retention rates, with most Year 11 participants remaining until Year 13, contributing to the growth of rural schools. With alumni actively engaged in tertiary education, trades, and the workforce, the program anticipates continued impact, with graduates expected to return to mentor future participants.
The effects of colonisation, urbanisation and oppression have resulted in a loss of identity, reo, and land for Māori. For many Māori the future is one of poverty and hardship, making it difficult for them to remember who they are, what they once were and who they can become. For some, there is no dream of a future where they and their whānau can thrive. The E Tipu E Rea programme is changing this.
We don’t ask our rangatahi what they want to be, but what they want their lives to look like. It is their job to dream and our role is to provide programmes that help them to fulfil these, as well as remove any barriers that might stand in their way.
Nōna Te Ao uses an auto-ethnographic narrative approach, which utilises stories based on real events to present information and change. The theory of change supporting this is: if a generation of a people, armed with skills and opportunities, have a dream without barriers, then within 5 years of the programme there will be graduates from tertiary who will become highly skilled workers ki te kāinga, as well as highly skilled workers through trades training.
Nōna Te Ao Charitable Trust is a Tairāwhiti-based kaupapa Māori organisation dedicated to ensuring barrier free pathways for rural rangatahi Māori moving through school into further education, employment, and training. Instead of asking rangatahi what they want to be, they ask what they want their lives to look like, and then rangatahi are supported to realise this.