Kāeo, New Zealand 2022
Nairana-Mirrabooka Study Centres
In July 2022, a group of 24 senior high school and university aged students ventured to New Zealand on a 12-day Workcamp. Workcamps are voluntary and aim to assist developing communities by providing services (i.e. labour, education) to people within those communities who are in need. The district of Kāeo, approximately 4 hours north of Auckland CBD, is home to a Māori community that hosted us as participants of the workcamp.
We were tasked to assist in the refurbishment of a monastery that was part of the Marae in which we stayed. This included de-moulding, painting and interior redecorating of the monastery to allow for future use. Along with assisting with refurbishment, some of the participants also engaged and supervised play with some of the primary-aged school children who attended school at the Marae.
Dennis Setiyo (participant)
“Workcamps are and amazing experience that allow for participants to give of themselves in a real and meaningful way. It's often the people who go on workcamps who get the most out of them, rather than the communities who are actually being helped. I think this is a great reflection of the beauty of self-giving and that when you give of yourself, you experience joy and peace. When we first arrived in Kāeo, we couldn't speak any Māori and the Māori had difficulties understanding our accents; but we both knew the language of charity which is universal.”
