Mā te karakia, mā te pao, mā te waiata - koirā te whakapono o ngā tamariki me ngā mema o te whānau whānui o Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Whakarewa i Te Reo Ki Tūwharetoa, i hui atu ki ngā pito e waru o te moana o Taupōnui a Tia ki te tuku aroha atu hei whakamahu i nga wai.
E whakapono ana ngēnei tauira, whānau anō hoki, mā te kawe i ngā tikanga tuku iho ka whakaora ai tō rātou moana tūpuna.
“He mea nui te wai ki a mātou,” i mea atu a Rerehau Wineera.
“Ko mātou o Ngāti Tūwharetoa he iwi wai Māori, nō reira ko ngā kawa me ngā tikanga kua roa e whai ana e mātou.”
Ko tā Wairau Wall, “He tika kia whakahoki ai i tō mātou koha, tō mātou aroha anō hoki ki tō tātou tūpuna e noho mauiui ana i tēnei wā.”
Otia, e pāpouri ana te iwikāinga me te hunga tūruhi i te kitenga o te paitini algae bloom i te wai Māori, i ngā āpiha o te Kaunihera ā Rohe o Waikato i ngā rā tata nei nā te kaha ngau o Raumati.
“Mamae (hurt), cause our tamariki can't go swimming like you know when they get hot,” i mea atu a Naomi Thorne (Ngāti Tūwharetoa).
“It's just sad cause this is what we do every summer.”
Hei tā tōna whāea tā Val Thorne (Ngāti Tūwharetoa), “Not very good. A lot of the locals, a lot of tourists come here and it's an everyday thing. As we look at the carparks we see it's empty and the first thing we go is wow, where are they all?”
Nō te tau rua mano tekau mā rima Te KKMāori o Whakarewa i Te Reo Ki Tūwharetoa i kōkiri ai tētehi petihana mai i Tūrangi ki te kāwanatanga ki Pōneke kia whakapiki ake te taumata oranga o ngā wai Māori o te motu, kia haumaru ai te kaukau.
“Me aronui ki te petihana e kī ana me whakapiki me whakauru putea me tautoko i ngā mahi whakaora i ngā awa i ngā wai Māori,” i mea mai a Ruby Pitiroi, kaiako i te kura.
“E ai ki wā mātou pakeke he tuatahitanga tērā ki a rātou maumahara he tuatahitanga tēnei mō te wai,” i kī atu a Kahumako Rameka, he tauira i te kura.
“Nō reira, e whakapono ana mātou ahakoa te wera, kī kī kē te moana ki ngā momo matū ki ngā momo paruparu. Nā tēnā kua matomato te tipu o tēnei momo mate.”
Kua tuku pānui tumatawhānui te Āphia Hauora a rohe ki te marea, kia kaua e hoe, e hīkoi e kaukau rānei i ngā wā wāhi matua e ono o Taupōnuiatia.
