08.04.2019 Whakatauki

Ka moe te mata hī ika
Ka oho te mata hī taua

"We sleep through the little, insignificant things
(such as fishing), but we are awoken to the battle."

I think this whakatauki can be seen in many different ways (with many different translations).
Firstly I see this whakatauki speaking about taking things for granted. I believe the first line is saying that we cannot see (we are asleep to) the smaller things in life and we take them for granted. We have become accustomed and desensitized to the beautiful everyday things in life and we can't see just how lucky and privileged we are. But the second talks of how when those privileges are taken from us (through the battles we face in life) we wake up and our eyes are opened to what we really had despite our blindness.

I also see this whakatauki talking about the things we face in life and how we need to pick our battles. I think it can be seen as saying that the smaller things in life, the trivial battles that we face should not consume our time and energy but rather we should sleep through these small battles. However we should awake for the wars, the heartfelt battles and challenges that ignite our passion and our emotion. We should awake to face the the big things life throws our way rather than waking up because life is merely throwing pebbles at the window.

Propaganda Poem

I am a soldier fighting for my home
I see fellow fighters in beautiful uniforms
I hear the buzzing excitement of war
I believe that our country will win
I want you to join me as our strength comes in numbers
I hope to see you at the frontline amid the action
I feel the same excitement felt at the game
I dream of being joined by friends and family
I am a soldier fighting for my home

Hitting a High Note

I have listened to/read three waiata. Ka pioio e, Poi E, and Tineia Te Ra. My favorite is 'Tineia te ra' because it is a beautiful heartfelt song. It tugs at your heartstrings filling you with emotion and even more so if you know what the lyrics translate to. I love this song because we sing it as a class sometimes and we just get lost in the words. The song is peaceful and slow. It is about the loss of a loved one or even the loss of loved ones. Below are the lyrics and translations.

Tineia te rā Extinguish the sun

Tahia ngā whetū Sweep away the stars

Kia ngaropoko te marama e Let the moon disappear

Kei hea rā koe tōku hinatore Where are you my glimmer of hope

Aue, taukuri e This pain, this pain

Takoto mai rā Lay to rest now

Ki te kōpū in the womb

O te whaea Papatūānuku of Mother Earth

Ka rere tō wairua ki Hawaiki rā anō Your spirit returns to the homeland

Aue, taukuri e This pain, this pain

Mōu i te tai māhūkura You leave with the rising sun

Mōku i te tai kōkōmea One day that sun will set on my life

Kapakapatū ana Tērā te aroha This love keeps pouring in and out

Ki te ākau o te ngākau nei upon the shores of my heart

Tineia te rā Extinguish the sun

Activity 2: I have chosen the game Ki O Rahi because we have played it in P.E. before.
In this game, the goal is to touch a pou with the ki to earn points.
Players are split into two teams of at least seven.
Two rules.
1: When out of bounds is called the last team with the ball must hand it over to the opposition.
2: Players in possession must be moving or they have three seconds to pass, shot or hand-over.

It's All in the Family

If I had eight or nine siblings, I would like some aspects of being a big family but not others. I have two brothers and I have always wanted a sister. In a family with nine children, the chances of me having a sister would be quite high. I would like to have a sister or two because I would have someone to talk with about school, friends and boys. I have seen the relationships some sisters have and I would love that relationship. I don't know if I would like getting less attention though because I love being Dad's little girl.

Pepeha:
Ko Ka tiritiri-o-te-moana, te pae maunga
Ko Carew River te awa
Ko Skaubryn, ko Cressy Jane oku waka
Ko Ngati Pakeha, Ko Ngati Tiamana oku iwi
Ko Te Huruhuru Ao o Horomaka te kura
No Otautahi ahau
Ko Dene toku Papa
Ko Linda toku Mama
Ko Matthew toku hamua
Ko Thomas toku tungane
Ko Amy toku ingoa

It's All in a Day's Work

There are several common similarities between a wharepuni and my home. Such as having a triangular roof and having a wooden frame. However, a wharepuni has a thatched roof made of wood, ferns and other materials, whereas our roof has a wooden frame with brick slates layered upon one another. In a pa, there are separate buildings for storage, cooking and sleeping. Our house is one larger building with walls separating the house into sections/rooms. These rooms have separate uses much like how the different buildings in a pa have different uses.

I have many dream jobs and I am a bit undecided as to what I want to do. I have a love for photography, however, at this stage, my photography is just a hobby and it is likely to stay that way. I also love the thought of being a high school teacher, teaching science or mathematics.  I love science and at the moment it looks as though this is the profession I will go for. I am looking into Marine Biology and Marine conservation.

Special Meals:
I love cooking and I often make Italian or Mexican food. One of my favorite meals is tacos. I make this for my family often. We buy Old El Paso's stand and stuff taco shells as well as Old El Paso's taco seasoning. We dish the mince mixture into warmed shells before topping them with cheese, tomato, lettuce, and mayo or sour cream.

A close second would be spaghetti and meatballs. I love the flavors of this classic Italian dish. However, I love tacos just that little bit more.

Arriving in New Zealand...

The First Settlers:

Māui and the Big Fish is about a young sibling determined to prove himself to his elder brothers. From reading this Māori Myth I have learned that Māui is a very determined person. Māui, although he was often told that he wasn't good enough, persevered finding new and clever ways to complete whatever he set his mind to. He is also very clever, in this story he comes up with a cunning plan and outsmarts his older brothers. I would use cheeky to describe Māui. In this story, he is not afraid to do his own thing. In other Māori Myths, such as 'How Māui Slowed the Sun', Māui shows similar personality traits to the ones shown in the aforementioned myth.

Setting Sail:

Dear Bobby Makenu,

We have been sailing for several days now and I am becoming rather bored. I have played all the games we brought with us and now I have nothing left to do. Mum told me I should write a letter if I was really that bored, so I decided to write to you.

Our journey so far has been peaceful. There was one night when it rain but besides that, the weather has been good. I miss you. Yesterday we saw dolphins, I wish you could have seen them they had such shiny skin. One came up to the waka, I named it Silk because of how soft and smooth her skin felt. I'm pretty sure it was a she, there were two smaller dolphins swimming with her. I named them Star and Bobby, after you and me because they stayed together the whole time like best friends do. There haven't been many other animals, Mum says the water is too deep to see any of the fish. I have seen birds though. They were black and white and made a horrible screeching noise. I think I will call them seabirds because they flew over the sea far from land.

I love to look at the sky when it is nighttime. I can see all the stars I tried to count them but there are so many. They shine off the water and you can see all the stars twice. My Mum says I was named Whetū after them because she thinks I am as beautiful as the stars.

I am nervous about arriving, what if there are already people there? They might not be nice. I am also very excited. There will be new places to see and explore. I will find a good tree and I will build a fort in it for when you arrive on the next waka.

See you Soon,

Whetū Makenu

P.S. You are my favorite sister xoxo

10Br NCEA speech on PBL

This is the speech I gave to the year 10's at the close of PBL.

Hello, my name is Amy and today I am going to talk to you about my group’s PBL project.

On Sunday, the day before PBL began, I was stuck as to what topic I should choose. I sat down at church for the evening service and listened to the sermon, it was about finding God’s purpose in your life and fulfilling his plan. After the sermon, there was a period of quiet time for us to think and pray, at this time I prayed asking God what he wanted me to do for PBL. A few moments of quiet and I had an idea. My topic was going to be about helping kids with cancer.

I decided that I wanted to visit children with cancer in hospital to read stories to them. I wrote my idea down and smiled. The next day I came to school and shared my plan with a group of friends. During the first period of PBL, we split into groups and I joined a group with Mercedes and Hannah-Mae. We named our group The Wish Makers.

On the first week, we completed the activities from checkpoints one to five. On Monday, the second week, we called the hospital and I manned the phone. I talked to one of the nurses in the pediatric ward and told her that we wanted to read Christmas stories to the children—she gave us permission to come the next day. We arrived the next day a little before 10 and found our way to wards 21 and 22 where the children were staying. The nurse I talked to on the phone showed us to the waiting area. After an hour-and-a-half wait, we met the head nurse of the ward. She sat down with us and explained that we could not see the children that day but we might be able to come back another time. She gave us the email address for someone from the Christchurch District Health Board.

We emailed the CDHB asking what steps we needed to take if we wanted to spend time with the kids. About three days later we received a reply. Their email informed us that we would need police checks before visiting the children. After looking into this we discovered that police checks were out of the question due to age restrictions. It is safe to say this action plan didn’t work very well. We set up a “Give A Little” page sending funds straight to the Child Cancer Foundation before we started our project again.

At the start of the third week, we merged with another group who were doing a related project and hit a similar roadblock. As one large group, we made over 40 dreamcatchers. We also collected about three boxes of stuffed toys and a large number of cans. During a four-hour car wash, we washed five cars, raising $50. All of this was donated to the Ronald McDonald House. It took a lot of time to plan the car wash, and we are thankful for our supportive parents and teachers who made it happen. The event worked, and even though we didn’t raise as much as we had intended to, we still have helped a little and that is all we could have hoped for.

Half of the group visited the Ronald McDonald House to deliver these gifts as well as Handmade Christmas cards. Although we were not allowed to visit the children, our actions still went well and we achieved our goal. At the close of PBL, Hannah-Mae and I presented our work and actions. We explained our project and showed a video compilation of the car wash. Haylee created a video using the photographs Bella and Letecia took during this event.

PBL has been hard and very stressful. There have been ups and downs and often we wanted to give up and cry, but we persevered. We are proud of our resilience. Helping improve the lives of these children has brought us joy. We worked extremely hard the first week and just as hard the second, but after so much disappointment our efforts lessened. After a while, we could no longer see the point. How could we help when everything we planned and attempted got shot down? However, looking at what we have achieved, we can see how all these little things contribute to a bigger picture.

If you want to help the Child Cancer Foundation you can donate through our Give A Little Page, helping fund crucial research needed to find a cure. Share the link around and raise awareness about this cause. Donate old clothes and toys in Child Cancer Foundation collection bins. If you want to know more about our project you can visit my school blog.

Even though the effects we had on the lives of those children were small, we still succeeded. We realize, now PBL is over, that you can change things for the better with just one small act of kindness. “It takes a lot to change the world, but one small act of kindness can change someone’s whole world.”