A win-win friendship with Corrections

Whaea Tanya, Whaea Lynda and Matua Vic

“It’s a progressive friendship… we feel like part of the family.”

This is how Corrections Supervisor Matua Vic describes the five-year relationship between Unitec and the New Lynn branch of Ara Poutama Aotearoa – the Department of Corrections.

Vic and his colleague, Ellen, bring a group of Corrections whānau to work on the Unitec marae as part of their community service work (when our campus is open). Each fortnight, groups of eight people on average, plus the supervisors, arrive to help care for the whenua (land) under the guidance of Unitec’s Kaitiaki, Whaea Tanya White and Kai Awhina and Kuia of Te Noho Kotahitanga Marae, Whaea Lynda Toki. Their work includes maintaining the harakeke (flax) and helping to keep the awa (stream) that runs beside the pā harakeke, clean and healthy.

Recently they’ve been working alongside the group of missionaries who also visit on Fridays.

The Corrections whānau caring for the harakeke

Vic, who has worked for Corrections for 28 years, says that people who are going through the Corrections system need to fulfil community work hours and our wahi tapu (sacred spaces) need regular upkeep, so it is a win-win situation.

“It’s a two-fold benefit – firstly the mahi gets done for the marae. There’s a lot to do, it’s ongoing – when we finish something we usually need to start again back up the other end. And our Corrections whānau get a lot out of it – a sense of accomplishment and achievement, they feel good about the quality of their work. Today one of the guys said “just looking at it makes me feel good!””

Clearing grass and watercress from the awa

Ellen says the welcome that the group is given is always warm.

“Just being here, we see a transformation within some of our people. That has a lot to do with Whaea Tanya and Whaea Lynda – they have a very welcoming attitude and a kind and considerate way of talking to our people. They call them whānau – ‘you’re our whānau while you’re here’. Tanya gives us the history and teaches basic things about the whenua; it means a lot.”

Tanya says she values the mahi the Corrections whānau have put in over the past years.

“The whānau from Community Corrections who have come to manaaki Rangimarie pā harakeke over the past few years have been integral to the progression and restoration of that wāhi tapu.

Supervisors Ellen and Vic

When the weaving programme was disestablished some time ago, the pā harakeke no longer had the same level of care and attention it had been receiving from the weaving students, who had been part of Unitec’s Wairaka campus since 1992.

Working with Ngā Kaitiaki approximately five years ago, Kim Penetito (former director of Maia), erected signage at each end of Rangimarie pā harakeke to acknowledge that space as a wāhi tapu, and to also acknowledge aspirations towards restoration. The Corrections whānau have worked steadily over the past years, helping to realise these aspirations. Their mahi has shown them to be tino kaitiaki.

Each time they come, there are new faces in the group. I have witnessed amazing transformations in people whose attitude, behaviour, and wairua has shifted from the time they arrive to the time they leave us. We are blessed to have the awhi, aroha and guidance of whaea Lynda,” said Tanya.

The skills the group learns in community projects can even help with a pathway into study or employment.

“It’s the best outcome, when one of our people finds employment or we can find a place for them – it gives Ellen and me a real sense of achievement. We’ve also had some people taking up studies at Unitec after talking to Whaea Lynda” said Vic.

“We’re grateful for the partnership with the Unitec marae. It’s a working relationship that has provided a great opportunity for our people to work alongside others and feel a sense of accomplishment.””