Ā mātou kōrero

  100 years ago this week, two monumental events occurred. The first was the visitation by the Holy Spirit to the Māngai, Tahu pōtiki Wiremu Rātana on 8 November 1918 as he stood on his own veranda. “I have been…

  Pay it forward is an expression for describing the beneficiary of a good deed repaying it to others instead of to the original benefactor. A couple of years ago, Chanel’s Mum, Whaea Daphne, rang her daughter and said that…

  One of my favourite quotes of all time is from early New Zealand writer, Katherine Mansfield, Katherine Mansfield “Risk! Risk anything! Care no more for the opinion of others … Do the hardest thing on earth for you. Act…

Our second oldest daughter has whakapapa that takes her to The Rock: the beautiful island paradise that is Niue.   Ten years ago we made the trip to this tropical aquarium, to explore her tribal playground and bathe in the beautiful…

  E kore au e ngaro he kākano i ruia mai i Rangiātea I will never be lost, the seed which was sown from the ancient home of Rangiātea. Keynote speaker at the national Oranga Tamariki hui, Horiana Irwin-Easthope, made…

“The danger in New Zealand currently is that our identity flies too freely, like a kite in the wind. It needs to be grounded by string or it floats away. This is what history can do for New Zealand, it…

This week we had a fabulous workshop with mokopuna ora entities – those who are working specifically on initiatives to support our most precious babies between the ages of 0- 5 years old.  One of the resources we looked at…

I have felt like a raging lion was let loose within my soul this week.    A situation occurred at an event my son performed at, which had the impact of making him doubt himself.   Adult behaviours and adult conversations…

  If you were to drive on the long winding mountain road between the airport and the capital city, Thimphu in the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan you would come across a curious sight.   Instead of road-signs brandishing “warning” “slow down”…

  ‘Flowers always make people better, happier and more helpful: they are sunshine, food and medicine for the soul’  (Luther Burbank)   There is an interesting phenomenon that occurs in the office whenever a courier walks in the door carrying…