July 9, 2023

ManaakiWai App Launching To Protect And Document Wai Health

Maunga Taniwha Ki Rangaunu Trust (MTKRT) are launching a new app called ManaakiWai. The app has been funded by a Ministry of Education Toikuranui grant.

The grant is aimed at supporting whānau and community groups in creating products and services that encourage the use of te reo Māori. The services created as a result of this grant are to be utilised within kura, whānau and community spaces within Te Hiku o Te Ika.

MTKRT’s overall vision for ManaakiWai is to help restore the waterways that flow from Maunga Taniwha through to the Rangaunu Harbour. MTKRT will also focus on health and well being via local wānanga for rangatahi and whānau in Te Hiku.

Jaroz Popata, Project Manager for MTKRT, told Tautīnei that;

“We aim to improve the wellbeing of our whānau and create observations of their direct environment as a step towards tiaki taiao. For example; climate change, parakore, whakamātautau wai.

The ManaakiWai app is a platform to observe our direct environment and journal or ‘take note’ of what’s happening around us in relation to maramataka,” detailed Popata.