Rosie | Pukekohe
“That will probably be just on Sunday just gone; we opened up a pātaka, the cupboards. The kai cupboards on the streets and we put it outside one of our whānau’s place, and she was, you know, brought to tears, just because we thought about her being our angel for our community.
So, that was one of our proudest moments, and we brought her to tears. So, when you think about it, doing something for someone who’s going to give back to your community, that’s a very proud moment for me, and all the other ladies that helped make it happen.
Yeah, it’s definitely very important to stop and recognise them. You know, sometimes people are that humble, that they don’t want to be recognised. So, if one person can just give them that thank you, or that tautoko manaaki, that’s going to build them up. Mana enhancing I reckon it is.
I’m here Papakura Connect meeting, in my role as CLM community sports coordinator. So my role there is to activate green spaces and work alongside community groups to deliver physical activity programs. So, I come along and listen, and just find those connections, and where I can add value to what’s already there as well, that’s in the community. Definitely this place was at a low, very low, and I used to come around this way back in the days, and there used to be people everywhere, and then it just, there was nothing. So, to come back into this space, 2018 it’s a positive thing that’s moving forward that all these groups are now here, and people are starting to come back and utilise the community space.
What’s important to me is my whānau. I grew up in Pukekohe in the market gardens. So from a very young age, we were in the gardens and working, around all our whānau. I have two teenage daughters in Australia, and I sent them at the age of 15/16ish, to go out and explore what was out there in other countries, and not just be stuck in our own little circle or town. So, they went off at a young age and explored Australia, and now they’re living there. So yeah whānau is very important to me, and I always carry them with me wherever I go.”
