March 13th saw Rotary Papakura and co-sponsor Papakura Marae Inc facilitating a community hui at Papakura Marae.
Gathering at the Waharoa (gateway), 95 attendees from 52 community groups were welcomed onto the marae with a powhiri (traditional, cultural welcome).
In the meeting house Marae CEO Tony Kake addressed the hui and set the scene for a day of community sharing and collaboration.
The hui was then addressed by Papakura Police Inspector, Matt Hoyes. Matt shared the operational priorities for the district which included retail crime, family care and speed monitoring on rural roads.
Local Board Deputy Chair, Jan Robinson followed with an overview of Local Board actions and concluded advising the hui that Auckland Council has reduced the Papakura Local Boards budget by $700,000. This encouraged attendees to think about using existing resources to better effect.
Community group Mana Inc then made an extremely impactful presentation based on the experiences of 5 ladies who have become known as the (More Than) Ram Raid Mums. These women are the mothers of ram raid teenagers, and they shared their stories of the shock they felt when they learned of the situation they were now in and how they dealt with it. The best way to understand this is to watch the TVNZ documentary on this link https://www.tvnz.co.nz/shows/ram-raid-mums
After lunch the hui moved into 11 discussion groups to get to know each other and consider a range of questions including health, education, community connections, opportunities for Papakura, community engagement strategies and future upgrades for Central Park with a focus on peace.
The hui was publicized and conducted with minimal reference to Rotary. There was enough Rotary presence so that people were aware of it being co-sponsored by Rotary and Papakura Marae, but we were sensitive to it being a community service for a specific locality. RC Papakura’s primary motivation was to provide this service and let the work stand for itself in the eyes of the community. The geographic area of focus also related to the Rotary clubs of Drury and Manurewa who both accepted our invitation to attend.
Rotary Papakura is a Rotary Peacebuilder Club and this was another peacebuilding project in our continuing program for positive peace. The hui was essentially a community needs assessment planned and conducted as outlined by R.I. in its Community Assessments guide.
The information we have gained as a club is invaluable. It has highlighted how we can “re-centre” our programs on the areas of need where we can be most effective, and our communications and interaction with the community.
When we are considering our concerns about membership numbers, we can take a new view of what we are offering the community. If the community sees value in this, then new members may be a more achievable outcome.