Leo Mwape Wins Regional Race Unity Speech Competition

Congratulations and good luck to Year 11 student Leo Mwape who won the Manawatū regional final of the Race Unity Speech Awards and will now compete in the national final over Matariki weekend in June.  

The Race Unity Speech Awards were initiated by the New Zealand Bahá’í Community in 2001 in support of Race Relations Day (21 March).  The speech topic this year is Ngā matimati nō te ringa kotahi – The fingers of one hand.  Leo first entered the competition in 2021 and decided to try again this year because he believes that a youth voice in race issues in New Zealand is important and he wants to be involved.

Leo enjoys public speaking and it is something that has been encouraged by his family.  Leo's grandfather, who he is named after, and his mother are both public speakers, so he has been brought up in an environment where it is important to make your voice heard.  Leo also enjoys writing, especially about issues that are important to him.

Leo's speech centred on the metaphor of a puzzle and how that can be applied to our society; we are all individual pieces, each with our own unique traits and 'edges', but in the end, we all come together to form one piece of art that is bigger than each of us.

We wish Leo all the best for the national finals later this term.

Click here to read the Manawatu Standard report from the regional Race Unity Speech Awards.