Wayne | Ōtara

“My girls are involved in Sistema Aotearoa program where they learn violin and cello, and it’s made up of a whole lot of diverse cultures, and that’s where our passion is, helping our kids out in that program. Sistema Aotearoa is a program run in Ōtara at OMAC, just at the back of us, and they teach South Auckland kids around here music through violin and cello.

We have probably eight different orchestras at the moment, ranging from Year 2 at school to Year 13. It started in 2011, and I’ve got three girls in the program at the moment. 

I was brought up in Ōtara most of my life. I travelled to Kawerau and New Plymouth when I was a teenager, and I settled down in Ōtara with my lady, we’ve been together for 27 years now. We have four kids, and we’ve spent nearly all of our time in Ōtara just doing community things. My lady, she works for Sistema. She signs the kids in, and makes their snacks when they come in for their after-school lessons, and we love helping the kids out at the school by making their lunches and just interacting with the all the kids in the local community. 

What I’ve personally learned is that the program is so good for children’s learning. My daughter, when she first started, my oldest girl, she was very shy, and a few years in the program has really brought her out. Last year she was on the student council, and she’s learned to bring herself out, and so have my two younger daughters as well. It’s really brought their passion out for learning. It helps with their maths and interacting with kids at their own age. 

I think that diversity in Auckland is so wide, and especially in Ōtara. We live together in a very diverse community where we all get on really well. I’m Māori, but I have a lot of friends, especially through the school, parents of the kids that go to the school, who are from the Islands, and I know a lot of them are really passionate about being in Ōtara and helping out the community.”