Our first reo Māori road safety video!

Tēnā koutou katoa! I pēhea ana tō tātou wiki o te reo māori? We hope you have had an amazing wiki o te reo Māori! You’ve probably seen a few of our amazing rerenga kupu videos and Road Safety ad this week. We thought we’d share a little more about what went on behind the scenes!

Our Māori Engagement Rōpū had been discussing what to do for Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori. Our ex National Leaders Ash Putt-Fallow and Sterling Maxwell who continue to tautoko Kaitiaki o Ara came up with the idea of creating a full reo māori Road Safety ad, not just for Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori but to create future resources to connect with kura kaupapa māori. 

We thankfully had a connection with Bea who is the kaiāwhina for Wellington Highschool’s Māori Performing Arts class. They were really excited to get involved with our kaupapa and welcomed us with open arms. From there Ash went along (with snacks of course!) to hold a workshop with them to further brainstorm ideas, collaborate and develop scripts for the reo māori Road Safety Ad. The rangatahi were very creative and definitely had a sense of humor, even looking at the legendary ‘ghost chips’ advert for inspiration. Ash collated all ideas from the workshop and developed each scene then wrote a script which she translated with the help of their kaiako Tilly. 

That Friday was filming day, there was a smaller group of about 6 for the filming. After a quick run down of the script it was straight into it! Many laughs were shared and not many takes. We were definitely impressed by the quality of acting skills from the rangatahi! 

Ash definitely took the reins and led the way for this project. We’re very proud of her mahi and thankful Ash has decided to continue to tautoko Kaitiaki o Ara. Thank you so much Ash!

“Being able to work with rangatahi Māori to create something for them. I just enjoyed having the experience and seeing them enjoy it.” - Ashleigh Putt-Farllows

We have so many acknowledgements to those who contributed towards making this happen. Ngā mihi nu nui ki a koutou! We can’t thank you enough for your mahi and efforts. This is just scratching the surface of what we’d like to see Kaitiaki o Ara achieve within te ao māori space. 

Here’s a couple snaps and a little waiata from behind the scenes of our reo māori road safety video

Here is the final video!