Accomplishments
Highlights of 2025 so far…
Rongo
Māku Organics soft-launched our new line of bokashi composting products ‘Rongo’ - YES like Rongomātāne & like Rongoā! Our goal is to support the regeneration of Hawkes Bay’s soil after the devastation caused by Cyclone Gabrielle. All proceeds go towards our MokoBoys team providing FREE household care to local kaumātua.
Hard-launch is coming soon… 👀
Waitangi Day Hangi
This Waitangi Day, our team commemorated with a hangi in our very own backyard! The Toi Matarua ‘Uncles’ came in to guide our rangatahi on the whole process from digging the hole to uncovering and bringing up our kai. Little Miss Ringawera a.k.a our Founder/Director a.k.a Aunty Char supported us with all the kai prep. What a mean way to come together in the New Year
Te Ahi Kā x MokoBoys Exchange
In March our MokoBoys team headed to Pōneke for an exchange with Taitā College’s Te Ahi Kā class who work to regenerate their schools native wetland and bush. The exchange was based around te taiao. Our MokoBoys facilitated workshops on rongoā and Rongo - our new composting system. Te Ahi Kā took us through identifying natives and invasives, conservation mahi and māra kai. We also got a taster of what both our’s and Te Ahi Kā’s mahi could lead to with a Ranger from the Department of Conservation coming in to kōrero about pest control. It was an amazing experience with like-minded rangatahi.
Recruitment Day & Wānanga
Our rangtahi leaders held a recruitment day to get some more local rangatahi involved in the encores of our show ‘Undiscovered’. The day involved drama, haka, waiata and dance workshops and a mean kai. We had a great turnout with many rangatahi jumping on board!
Over the next two months we held wānanga at our HQ to prepare our show. The show has themes of mental health awareness and youth incarceration so we invited in a few guest speakers along the way to deepen our connection to the performance. We had kōrero from a rangatahi who spoke about his experiences in prison and decision to turn his life around. The beautiful Whaea Waireti came in to speak about and share the healing powers of vibrations or ihirangaranga. Finally, we had Mates4Life deliver their suicide awareness kōrero which helped us to connect all the tools we discuss in the show and at wānanga to real life situations.
‘Undiscovered’ 2025 Youth Production - ENCORES
What began as one encore show led to two! We started off with taking our show to Te Tairāwhiti where we were generously hosted by Te Aka Ora Charitable Trust. We spent a day with their rangatahi playing kēmu, and running kī-o-rahi and dance workshops. It went so well we were able to incoporate their rangatahi in our final dance at our show the following day. We had a full house at Lawson Field Theatre.
When we got home our whānau really wanted to see what we had been up to so we held a final community show at Tamatea High School. Our rangatahi put it on for their whānau with one of our best shows yet.
Now we are itching for more! Stay tuned… 👀
HB Clean-Up
For the second year, our MokoBoys were invited to attend the Hawkes Bay Clean Up day with the Centurion Motorcycle Club, Martha Taonui and the Hawkes Bay Clean Up Crew. The crew received mentorship from the tāne about tools, chainsaws and trades mahi all whilst giving back to their community. They also got to have a bit of fun riding on the motorcycles and sharing kai and kōrero.
Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou!
Unity Day Awards
Our MokoBoys were invited to MC Napier Pilot City Trust’s annual Unity Day at the Napier War Memorial. Our crew done an amazing job with feedback that they brought a vibrant energy and helped the event to run smoothly.
The crew were awarded a Unity Day award for their contribution in the community through the MokoBoys kaupapa, making a special shoutout to “all the Nannies that made it possible”.
Our amazing Founder and Director, Charlizza Matehe also received an award for her continuous mahi supporting the development of rangatahi in Napier. Congrats Aunty Char!!!