Christchurch Girls' High School / Te Kura o Hine Waiora Year 9 student, Micahlei Timo, was invited to present at the recent NZEI Conference.

In the keynote address Micahlei shared her poem "The Aotearoa I want to see" - and then played "How far I'll Go" from Moana on the flute.  It was great that she was able to honour the Polynesian Panthers, Dr Melani Anae and Rev Alec Toleafoa, who were the opening speakers of the conference.

Micahlei co-facilitated the workshop and ran a game with the educators, and then as an active listener- she sat at the 6 different tables (40 participants) and listened to their Talanoa, and wove these words together and performed it back to the teachers. It was a tough task, but Micahlei did a stellar job of synthesising the teachers' whakaaro around wellbeing, purpose and a desired future state for Aotearoa.  

The Aotearoa I want to see - Micahlei Timo

The Aotearoa I want to see looks like... Young people who are happy, and have a positive outlook on life no matter what they face. It looks like Young people standing upright & relaxed at the same time, shoulders back, head held high and voices speaking strong. It looks like a whole village, knock-knock-knocking down walls with lightning in their fists so there are no barriers to learning and all of our ancestors are welcome to walk with us into every classroom.

The Aotearoa I want to see smells like... The Freshly cut grass of an aspiring athlete and burnt wood of a laser cutter imprinting traditional Tatau on modern surfaces - it’s that place between - we really do walk backwards into the future don’t we?

The Aotearoa I want to see tastes like... The Metallic salty spit in my mouthguard after tackling someone hard and defending our line to win the game - it’s the closest thing I can think of to war - of battles lost and won in the real history of Aotearoa - #Parihaka #Dawnraids.  It tastes like - Butter, sugar, vanilla, jam and cream of nana’s scones and papa’s famous chop suey and TALO swimming in an ocean of coconut cream because food my friends, really is a love language and IMAGINE if every young person could experience love at school?

The Aotearoa I want to see sounds like... An opinion that is charismatic, clear, confident and unapologetically loud and safe enough to come out and shine. It sounds like Te Reo Māori everywhere e hoa / haere mai / kia kaha and Pacific languages everywhere - susū mai, maliu mai kamna mauri, and meitaki ma'ata and it sounds like every language mixing together like a Motown hitsville hub.

The Aotearoa I want to see feels like... My BFFELL aka Best friend forever lasting life Mika Lene - we stand up for each other, match each other’s vibe- and embrace our weird!  It feels like a Dora the Explorer backpack that lets us whip out magic tools to help us to keep on keeping on.  It feels like not knowing where we come from and having the fanua and the village wrap you up in their arms and show you HOME.

This Aotearoa tells me I am safe, I am loved and I belong, I can speak like a chief, I am my village and my village is me.

Soifua ma ia manuiaing