Kerrie, a Community Library Manager at Auckland Council Libraries, shares some of her learnings while participating in the Whiria te Tāngata programme.
I honestly can’t believe that I and the rest of my cohort are over halfway through this programme. Throughout this journey we’ve only met face to face for a total of nine days, but it feels as if I’ve known these amazing wāhine forever!
It’s occurred to me that things are being revealed in layers. Often simple, sometimes complex, and beautifully unexpected. This journey has been so much more than the learnings and the modules, which is something that I did not expect.
What this past four months has taught me is that things don’t turn out how you planned, but it’s just how it’s meant to be.
Whakawhanaungatanga and connection
We’ve spent time together as a cohort in iconic venues in Wellington, thanks to some unexpected seismic strengthening. This is where we met each other for the first time and we slowly, slowly started to reveal things about ourselves to each other.
As a cohort we are so many things! Wāhine, Māori, pākeha, queer, māmās and so much more. But most of all we are incrediblly complex people with rich stories and experiences in life and in Libraries.
When we met face to face again, it turned out that flight cancellations meant that we had to drive the 250 kms from Christchurch to Hokitika. In my waka we talked about life and mahi and learnt even more about each other’s experiences in different library sectors.
We were welcomed with open arms to Arahura Marae as part of the Te Rōpū Whakahau hui-a-tau. For some it was the first-time stepping foot on a Marae let alone staying at one and for others it was like coming home.
This was a time that was full of deep and meaningful connections and manaakitanga, all woven in between delicious kai and travelling the local area.
Right in the thick of it
It’s now been a bit of time since we’ve seen each other and I’m slowly chipping away at my modules and learning. I honestly can’t say yet what the end of my journey will look like but what I do know for certain is that I will continue to reflect and embrace what I’ve learnt so far.
Kia whakatōmuri te haere whakamua.
I walk backwards into the future with my eyes fixed on my past.
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