Whāia te iti kahurangi ki te tūohu koe me he maunga teitei. Seek the treasure you value most dearly: if you bow your head, let it be to a lofty mountain

This whakatauki is about aiming high or for what is truly valuable, but it's real message is to be persistent and don't let obstacles stop you from reaching your goal.

Tēnei te mihi ki a koutou, last night was yet again a memorable occasion for Wairua Pūhou, maybe not as thrilling as other years but this year was special to us for other reasons. This year we built our program around people we wanted to acknowledge. Te Tumu, from Otago University have always been huge supporters of Wairua Pūhou and have helped us grow  into who we are today. A huge mihi goes to them, especially Doctor Karyn Paringatai, Doctors Poia and Tangiwai Rewi and the rest of the kaiako and tauira at Te Tumu. We wanted to acknowledge our past tutors, from the leaders of He Waka Kōtuia (King's and Queen's Kapa haka) who tutored Wairua Pūhou prior to starting He Waka Kōtuia, to Wiki Haua, Maaka Pōhatu, Sacha Dobson, Kaharau and Te Rina Keogh, Thomas Arepo Morgan, but in particular Sue Harlow and our own Carol Clarkson who started Polyfest 25 years ago, true heros. Our first song was dedicated to those people. The second song was a bit slower and  was about cancer and how it effects and touches everyone. The next two sing alongs were a mihi to Kaharau and Te Rina Keogh and Wiki Haua and the haka at the end was about violence that we see it everyday.It comes in many forms so it’s our way of saying it is not ok, ensuring that violence is not the answer. To all those that have helped us grow into better humans, ngā mihi ki a koutou.