Beyond telling relatable stories, it's prescient. Ihumatao is a case of reality mimicking fiction. Aroha Bridge is being mimicked by the events happening at Ihumatau.

In Aroha Bridge's season three finale, Kamo Kamo Corporation constructs a wall separating Aroha Bridge from the rest of world.

"The residents of Aroha Bridge - the angry dads, the people monopolising the cause, those disillusioned and those trying to be wakened - are divided in where they stand politically," writes Lana Lopesi in her review.

"That is until everyone starts to be impacted personally, whether it be through the inability to get burritos or the relentless corporate control of the suburb."

In the same way that Jacinda Ardern has to eventually take a stance on Ihumatao, Tokouso, the overly idealistic mayor of Aroha Bridge, always thought he could please everyone until he finds that he too has to eventually take a stance.

"An uncanny coincidence? Or a premonition manifested by the series' writer?" asks Lopesi.

"Like that friend who asks you if you really want to do that, and then tells you I told you so, Aroha Bridge, acts as a shady pop-up window asking us if we really want to repeat history again."

Aroha Bridge began life as a comic-strip and later developed into a short, online animated series. Now a full-length season made with the support of NZ on Air.

It is a cartoon snapshot of a multicultural melting pot that is New Zealand.

The series focuses on urban Maori characters, delving "into the racial politics and millennial Maori anxieties that manifest in the animated hubbub suburb of 'Aroha Bridge'."

Click here to watch season three of Aroha Bridge

Source

• noted.co.nz
• thespinoff
• stuff.co.nz
• Image: thespinoff

The Hui Aranga, or Maori Easter Gathering, is a Maori Catholic celebration of Holy Week and Easter.

Groups come to it from all over the North Island.

This year they included Clubs from Tauranga (Tauranga Moana), Wairoa (Tawhiti a Maru), Hawkes Bay (Waipatu), Wellington and Porirua (Nga Karere and Tu Hono), Taranaki (Araukuku), the Whanganui River (St Vincents, St Peter Chanel and Wainui a rua) and the host Club from Ohakune (Ruapehu).

This was the 72nd year the Hui Aranga has met. It began in 1946 at Otaki (Pukekaraka).

It is a remarkable testimony to endurance in Faith and Culture.

As the late Maori Bishop, Takuira Mariu SM, used to say, it is "the lifeblood of Maori Catholic which sustains a cultural expression of their Whakapono (Faith)".

Traditional ceremonies for Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday were held.

Bishop Charles Drennan (Good Friday), Mons. Gerard Burns, Fr Bernie O'Donnell (Parish Priest of Ohakune-Taihape), Mons. David Gledhill SM and Pa Piripi Cody SM attended.

Sr Margaretta RSJ and Br Denis O'Brien SM were religious present.

A remarkable play conducted by local rangatahi (youth) depicted the Good Friday Gospel linked to the Stations of the Cross.

At the end of the play, Christ was taken from the Cross and placed in Mary's arms. Christ reappeared, clothed in white, at the Easter Sunday Gospel.

Standing tall, he proclaimed "E te Iwi, kia Ora" ("The Fullness of Life be with the People").

Those gathered had competitions covering cultural Kapa Haka, Whaikorero (Oratory), Religious Quiz, Sacred Solo and Choir, and a variety of sports.

A huge marquee provided the venue: 2/3rds used for ceremonies; 1/3 for dining.

Feeding several hundred people breakfast, lunch and dinner is no mean feat!

This was a ‘Parakore' (waste-free) hui. At every rubbish bin was a bin for recycling. As people came to wash their dishes, there were bins for food, plastic and rubbish.

Waipatu (Hastings) scooped the pool for both Religious and overall aggregate.

They were closely followed by St Peter Chanel (Whanganui River).

All events have three levels: Mokopuna (midgets), Rangatahi (junior) and Matua (Senior).

At the thanksgiving and closing on Easter Monday, the ‘Mauri' (Central life force), a statue of Mary clothed in her korowai (cloak) was given to the Club due to host the Hui Aranga in 2019.

It will be Araukuku from Hawera.

Source

Supplied: Philip Cody

The Ministry of Education doesn't have oversight of school hostels, but it is responsible for their licensing and in extreme circumstances they can revoke them.

The ministry has expressed concerns about the hostel, particularly its maintenance and structural soundness.

Spokeswoman Katrina Casey says they have been working with the trust board to address these concerns.

Some targets have been met but Hato Petera students want to pick up the pace and they have taken the repair job into their own hands.

"We want to show that we're better than the adults because the adults have proven to us they can't really do a good job, so the students have really taken it on board to build it from the ground up," says student leader Jack McKee.

With the help of past and present students and the local community, piece-by-piece they are peeling back the old and bringing in a fresh look and feel.

An independent provider was sent to the college by the ministry to assess its progress addressing identified maintenance areas.

A report on the August 18 assessment is due this week.

Casey says the trust has been given until December to complete the remainder of the repairs and they have also been asked to address staffing, security and student supervision concerns.

Hato Petera students believe there would be serious consequences for some of them if the hostel were to close.

Their message to school management and the Ministry of Education is simple: "Help our Maori students achieve with excellence and get them to university."

"And this school can get us there, so we can be like Lance O'Sullivan," says Hato Petera College head girl Tayla-Rose Campbell.

Source

• stuff.co.nz
• 3news.co.nz
• Image: 3news.co.nz screen shot

Massey University education associate professor Jill Bevan-Brown said schools tend to focus on academic subjects but giftedness in Maori students is broader.