This year, Whenua Iti Outdoors was received $2,490 from the Hospitality Training Trust’s (HTT) annual grants 490 for their Manaaki Kai: Young Māori Leaders in Hospitality programme.
Whenua Iti Outdoors provides experiential education across Te Tauihu (Top of the South) and Te Tai Poutini (West Coast).
“We are an NZQA accredited provider of Trades Academy programmes, and the Manaaki Tāpoi programme is our kaupapa Māori Hospitality and Tourism course,” explained Lucy Carver, Projects and Funding Coordinator.
“This course has a consistent 95 percent credit pass rate amongst Māori participants, a stark difference from overall NCEA pass rates for young Māori (71.9 percent at Level 2 and 60.7 percent at Level 3 in 2020). We attribute this to the mana-enhancing (esteem building) cultural approach of course delivery.”
The grant was awarded for the ‘Manaaki Kai: Young Māori Leaders in Hospitality’ project, which was delivered in partnership with a Local Kai Specialist over one and a half days of the four-week Manaaki Tāpoi programme.
“We were fortunate to have Renee Kahukura of The Kai Table in Motueka teaching our Manaaki Tāpoi participants about food and hospitality, as well as modelling industry standard vocational pathways for rangatahi in kaupapa Māori hospitality settings.”
The project was designed to support participants on the programme to build skills and knowledge of hospitality, build confidence in tikanga (cultural practices) associated with hospitality, and learn how these cultural practices can be applied to the wider tourism and hospitality sector.
“The programme was an absolute success!” Carver expressed.
Day one started with whakawhanaungatanga (meeting and connections), learning about Renee’s passion for food and how she set up her own kai business.
“We visited the Te Āwhina Marae gardens (where students were staying), which are just being established, to learn about food systems and local resilience from a marae perspective. We also went to a local stream to learn about foraging and traditional food gathering.”
The afternoon was spent preparing and cooking the evening’s roast dinner and prepping food for the hakari (feast) the following day. The hakari meal plan followed a fusion twist on traditional kai, included Pulled Pork
Fry Bread Tacos, Ceviche, Potato Mushroom & Leek Soup, Mussel Chowder and Roast Kumara Salad. All students were hands on throughout the experience, sharing food and cooking memories, including the full kitchen clean up at the end.
Student whanau members were invited to the Manaaki Tāpoi graduation. This culminated in a hakari (feast) presented by the students to their whanau, Renee, her whanau, and other members from the community including local marae staff and past Whenua Iti Board Members.
“People were really impressed with the students’ manaakitanga (hospitality) and the delicious kai they had prepared. There was a thank you mihi and pao to conclude and whakamana (uplift and confirm) their hosting.
“It was truly a wonderful celebration to their learning journey.”
Carver found out about HTT through Strategic Grants and noted that the application process was very easy to interact with.
The grant money goes towards the costs of contracting the Local Kai Specialist, kaumatua, and food expenses.
“We warmly encourage other businesses to apply.”
