Kia Ora Coromind whānau
Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi, engari he toa takitini – the success of our team is not that of an individual but that of a collective, we are all one whānau in this together.
Being able to whakapapa Māori hasn’t been something I’ve been proud of all my life, although I’m happy to admit I have been
in these recent years. Not being able to speak te reo fluently was one of those reasons I would sometimes feel disconnected
and discouraged.
Recently on my travels, I have found myself working with colleagues who are not only proud to be Māori, but also incorporate te reo into our everyday work! From introducing themselves to our team during briefings with whakataukī and a small pepeha,
to using te reo Māori for actions and items we use on board.
This has blown me away, as I had never worked in an environment where that has happened or that was encouraged and honestly, it felt almost necessary as people that represent our country abroad.
During these trips, I think I felt the most connected to te ao Māori, as I quickly found myself responding in the Māori language and using names for things like bread, water, milk and so on. My colleagues noticed this as I did in them and we found ourselves having the important conversation about our language and our journeys with it both in and out of our professional lives.
Another conversation broke with all colleagues who spoke their native tongue, and we found ourselves comparing vowel sounds, origin stories and history!
The take-home from these experiences is to not be whakamā (embarrassed) to use what te reo Māori I do know in everyday life just because someone may know more or someone may not know any at all. That the more we do, the more common and informed
people can be.
Ko au ko koe, ko koe ko au – I am you, you are me. If I succeed, you succeed; if you succeed, I succeed.
Words and Photos by Chloe Potae
