Behind the scenes: SADD’s Māori Engagement Strategy

This week on the blog want to give you all some background on what SADD has been working on behind the scenes with developing our Māori Engagement Strategy, and thought that Te wiki o te reo Māori would be a perfect time to give you all this update! Read on below to hear from Donna our National Manager, Sterling our Youth Board Rep, and Ash one of our National Leaders.

National Leaders working on SADD’s essence

A message from Donna (SADD’s National Manager)

SADD is a student-led programme empowering all rangatahi to prevent loss on our roads, delivered predominantly in secondary schools across Aotearoa. Its road safety messaging is tailored to fit the road safety needs of the community.  The initial drive for this mahi, to extend our reach to rangatahi Māori and incorporate Te Ao Māori into SADD’s kaupapa, was started in 2018. A series of meetings and consultations with Māori organisations’ was initiated and students were engaged to try to find local solutions.

In 2020 a SADD National Leader, Skylah Holmes, wanted to do more to make SADD more appealing to the Māori community. She interviewed key partners who engage with Māori communities, researched the issues, and, in consultation with the SADD National Manager, came up with 3 recommendations for SADD.

In 2021 SADD is scoping opportunities to engage with Māori communities. We have initiated a Māori engagement working group consisting of, the SADD youth representative, Sterling Maxwell, a current yr 13 National Leader, Ash Putt-Fellows, and the SADD National Manager and Delivery Team Leader. The focus of the group is to incorporate Te Ao Māori into the SADD programme to reach out to Māori youth communities to engage in road safety prevention activities. 

Now to hear from Ash and Sterling…

Ash: Kia ora! Ko Ash toku ingoa. Ko Ngāpuhi me Ngāti Whātua tōku iwi.

Sterling: Kia ora! Ko Sterling Maxwell toku ingoa. He uri ahau no Ngāti Porou raua ko Ngāpuhi. 

Why do you want to help SADD grow our Māori Engagement Strategy?  

Ash: I have always been really passionate about my Māoritanga and have always tried to bring it into the spaces I work in. The SADD Māori Engagement Strategy was not only a way that I could personally do more for Māori, but also a way I could educate and help a community grow. It was also an opportunity for me to learn, specifically about the incorporation of Māoritanga into organisations' daily running and how to do that correctly. I am really excited to be working on and learn about that, as it's something that many entities in Aotearoa get wrong. 

Sterling: SADD has been a huge part of my life for a few years now and Te Āo Māori is one of the worlds I grew up, so this is a way that I can give back to both areas. Not only will this lead SADD into new avenues to explore, it also generates a connection between the two worlds that create a safe place for everybody to learn about road safety AND Te Āo Māori. 

Can you give some background on what we have been doing so far? 

Ash: We have been doing lots of mahi around this. We started with a call all about what we wanted to achieve with this and airing how we thought we should go about it. We talked about lots of things like making sure we are consulting with iwi and rangatahi, making sure we are incorporating the culture, and the reasons why we were doing this. We looked at lots of different ways we can start and a big thing we wanted to start with was getting a Māori name for SADD. This has been a big part of what we are working on at the moment. There were lots of things we needed to do in order to make sure it was truly SADD’s name. To date, we have had sessions with our National Leaders discussing SADD’s essence, this was to ensure we had a full idea of what SADD is, and one way we made sure rangatahi voices are heard throughout the process. We have also been getting in touch with iwi to start the conversation around getting the official name. We have also been actively incorporating Māoritanga into our events and other operations. Starting small with things like karakia, celebrating Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, and getting our leaders involved.

What do you hope for in the future for SADD’s Māori engagement? 

Ash: I hope that it continues to be work focusing on incorporation and appreciation. I also hope that it creates a space where Māori not only feel welcome and heard, but a space that just feels right for them to be in and works for them. I hope this work shows Māori rangatahi that their opinions are valuable in the road safety space and that they have a space where their Māoritanga will be supported and also just normal (as it often seems to be a foreign concept in advocating spaces). I also hope this creates an example for other groups, organisations, business etc.

Sterling: One day I hope that this mahi that we are putting in leads to an environment in which people from all walks in life feel comfortable enough in the setting and community we would have established, to come and learn about road safety.

Skylah, Sterling, and Ash!

We are very proud of the mahi that Skylah put in last year, and that Sterling and Ash have put in this year. They are all amazing young wāhine toa! If you would like to get in touch to find out more about this mahi, or to get involved then please drop us a line.