275 Times. Sept 2014

#1 <strong>Sept</strong>ember <strong>2014</strong><br />

<strong>275</strong><br />

times<br />

<strong>275</strong> times<br />

Haere mai!<br />

Talofa lava, Kia<br />

orana, Malo e<br />

lelei, Fakaalofa<br />

lahi atu, Bula<br />

vinaka, Namaste,<br />

Malo ni, Halo<br />

ola keta, Mauri,<br />

Fakatalofa atu.<br />

The <strong>275</strong> <strong>Times</strong> is<br />

here! What is it you<br />

might ask?! It’s your<br />

very own community<br />

newsletter – just<br />

for people living<br />

in Māngere and<br />

Māngere East.<br />

Turn to p2 for<br />

more.<br />

whats inside:<br />

02 - Southern Cross win<br />

1st XV title<br />

Column : A word from<br />

the Chair Lydia Sosene<br />

03<br />

celebrating Māngere through sharing its stories<br />

- Mangere ˉ College’s<br />

new Tongan initiative<br />

What<br />

I love<br />

about<br />

Mangere<br />

Simi Ma Chee.<br />

“Great to meet other<br />

people from all cultures<br />

and I love to serve the<br />

community.”<br />

Sailii Segi.<br />

“Friendly people.<br />

Different cultures. There<br />

are many good things<br />

in Māngere.”<br />

Lillian Ozucargil.<br />

“When you walk<br />

down the street you<br />

see people enjoying<br />

themselves. And so you<br />

enjoy yourself.”<br />

Torcha Wiparata.<br />

“I like the schools<br />

and the people in<br />

Māngere and how<br />

people always smile.”<br />

Lorettah Tufuga.<br />

“We’re all family. We all<br />

know each other. We<br />

all stick up for each<br />

other.”<br />

Kayla Rapana.<br />

“The people are so<br />

friendly and easy<br />

going. My clients are<br />

all like family. And can’t<br />

complain about prices<br />

in Māngere.”<br />

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The<br />

<strong>275</strong> <strong>Times</strong><br />

team,<br />

with the help<br />

of Māngere East<br />

Family Service<br />

Centre, have set up this<br />

community newsletter<br />

to provide a platform<br />

for Māngere people to<br />

communicate their messages<br />

back to the community. We<br />

hope for this newsletter, and<br />

our <strong>275</strong> <strong>Times</strong> Facebook<br />

page, to be the place to<br />

go to see the triumphs and<br />

awesome initiatives for<br />

Māngere people. Feel free<br />

to get in touch with your<br />

feedback.<br />

E noho rā,<br />

<strong>275</strong> <strong>Times</strong> Team<br />

Publisher: Māngere East<br />

Family Service Centre<br />

Contact details: 0276302700<br />

Nitty Gritty<br />

Another aim of this newsletter is to<br />

give organisations and businesses<br />

a place to share what they’re up<br />

to - through becoming a <strong>275</strong> <strong>Times</strong><br />

sponsor. If you want to see your ad<br />

appear in future issues email us<br />

at <strong>275</strong>times@gmail.com and we<br />

can discuss our sponsorship rates.<br />

Or if you'd like to make a one-off<br />

donation to help with printing costs<br />

visit: http://www.givealittle.co.nz/<br />

cause/<strong>275</strong><strong>Times</strong>News<br />

NZRL Community Playgroup<br />

Moyle Park<br />

Mon-Wed<br />

10am - 2pm<br />

FREE for all kids under 5 years<br />

Runs during school term<br />

Call Johanna Muller 0210332727<br />

Fearless Southern Cross girls win title<br />

Comeback Queens: Peter Fatupaito (far left) with the Southern Cross Girls 1st XV Rugby team after their<br />

victory over Fielding High in the National Champs semi-final.<br />

What do you do if you’re playing in the grand<br />

final of the Auckland champs, you’re losing<br />

22-nil and the crowd is getting louder and<br />

louder? If you’re the Southern Cross Girls 1st<br />

XV Rugby team you stage a miracle secondhalf<br />

comeback to win your schools’ first Girls<br />

1st XV title.<br />

Southern Cross coach Peter Fatupaito credits<br />

the character of his team, particularly his<br />

captain Moana Fineaso-Levi and star centre<br />

Olivia Poloniati for helping the team come<br />

back from such a big deficit to win the title by<br />

one point 28-27.<br />

“At halftime the girls were still looking quite<br />

nervous and the Onehunga crowd was very<br />

Warm Pasifika Greetings to you all,<br />

Thank you for the opportunity to give comment<br />

to this inaugural newsletter for our community<br />

in Māngere! This is a great initiative for local<br />

news in our community.<br />

As many of you are aware, it’s time for New<br />

Zealand voters to take part in the central<br />

Government election. It is an<br />

important time – and for those<br />

of you who haven’t registered to<br />

vote, do so as soon as you can.<br />

As a voter living in Māngere,<br />

think about your personal<br />

situation and those around you.<br />

Have things improved for you<br />

in the last little while? Or have<br />

your personal matters for your<br />

family and friends worsened? What do you<br />

expect for your family, for your household,<br />

your income, your children and grandchildren?<br />

As an elderly or disabled resident, are your<br />

circumstances better?<br />

When choosing a Political Party give thought<br />

to what matters to you most. As Chair of the<br />

vocal,” says Peter. “So I told them they could<br />

either fear it and run or face everything and<br />

rise – and that’s what they did.”<br />

Peter says the team have gone through the<br />

season undefeated. “It was a massive day for<br />

us.” The team then went onto the National<br />

Top Four Champs in Palmerston North. In the<br />

semi-final the girls pulled off another miracle<br />

comeback, scoring three times in eight minutes<br />

to beat two-time defending champions<br />

Fielding High. Southern Cross then faced<br />

Hamilton Girls High School in the final, but<br />

after losing four crucial players to injury the<br />

Māngere team were unable to take the title.<br />

A word from the Chair: Vote !<br />

Māngere-Otahuhu Local Board, I see a<br />

number of specific issues affecting our Ward.<br />

One major issue to consider, which affects<br />

many in Māngere, is housing. There is a large<br />

housing stock situated here, and we have a<br />

number of residents living in Boarding Houses<br />

and sub-standard living arrangements.<br />

Whoever is the Government<br />

post <strong>Sept</strong>ember 20, it will be<br />

important for our Local Board<br />

that this issue is addressed.<br />

Māngere has a high<br />

population of young people<br />

and of elderly people living in<br />

our Ward. And this is reflected<br />

in our Draft Māngere-<br />

Otahuhu Local Board Plan and<br />

is among the six key priorities. It's my hope<br />

that the Māngere-Otahuhu Local Board will<br />

continue to highlight the community’s needs,<br />

along with Local Government agencies.<br />

Manuia,<br />

Lydia Sosene,<br />

Chair - Māngere-Otahuhu Local Board<br />

Tongan language<br />

to open Uni doors<br />

Learning Tongan at Māngere College will not<br />

only enrich students in their culture but now,<br />

thanks to a new initiative, also help them gain<br />

entrance to university.<br />

Toa Bloomfield has been teaching Tongan<br />

at the College for the last five years – but it<br />

was only assessed as unit standards. However<br />

the Ministry of Education will now offer new<br />

Lea faka-Tonga achievement standards and<br />

associated resources at NCEA Levels 1, 2<br />

for this year and Level 3 next year. The new<br />

achievement standards mean students can<br />

use their credits from studying Tongan to count<br />

towards university entrance.<br />

The school launched the new initiative on<br />

<strong>Sept</strong>ember 3 with powhiri and Tongan dance<br />

performances and Mrs Bloomfield expects<br />

to see a rise in students signing up for her<br />

classes.<br />

“I’m expecting more enrolments as parents will<br />

be able to see that this now counts towards<br />

university entrance,” she says.<br />

Mrs Bloomfield says there are many benefits<br />

for students to study their own language.<br />

Gardening guru Tom has much to share with Māngere<br />

Tom Winchman is a man on a mission - an ecomission<br />

that is.<br />

The 74-year-old has been running the<br />

Māngere Community Garden for the last two<br />

years, with the help of a team of volunteers.<br />

He works tirelessly without pay in the hope<br />

that people will be empowered by learning<br />

key food growing skills. “The price of food is<br />

going to keep going up, so we’re looking at<br />

different ways of growing vegetables, which<br />

Language learners: Toa Bloomfield with some of her students studying towards their NCEA credits.<br />

“It’s amazing how the students respond to<br />

study when it’s related to their culture. We<br />

teach them to be proud of their culture and<br />

values. But I also believe learning in their<br />

mother-tongue can be a step towards them<br />

becoming more successful as there are now<br />

many careers which require being able to<br />

speak more than one language.”<br />

Team Green: Samantha Cooper and Tom Winchman at the Māngere Community Garden.<br />

also includes different ways of getting water.”<br />

Tom has set up a special demonstration<br />

garden in which he has a large water tank<br />

hooked up to two small solar panels. These<br />

panels power a battery which pumps water<br />

into a gravel-based garden bed and into a<br />

row of pipes. Due to the nutritious water he’s<br />

pumping into these two ‘garden beds’ he has<br />

thriving vegetables of all varieties. Some of the<br />

nutrients in the water come from the two large<br />

Mrs Bloomfield credits the school for making<br />

language learning a priority.<br />

“We are so fortunate to have our language<br />

block and it’s making a huge difference to<br />

achievement. We’re seeing many Excellences<br />

and Merits achieved from the students<br />

learning Samoan and I believe we’ll see our<br />

Tongan students following in their footsteps.”<br />

eels that are swimming around the tanks. And<br />

a massive worm farm is also a key source of<br />

nutrients for this experimental garden.<br />

“We’ve been able to grow kale, broccoli, taro,<br />

cabbage and watercress in the aquaponics<br />

garden beds – all without any top soil. This is<br />

ideal for growing veges in atolls or beside a<br />

beach,” he says.<br />

Tom says the garden is a service to the<br />

community - both in Māngere and overseas<br />

- and he says many people visit the garden<br />

to learn skills before taking them back to<br />

their homelands in the islands or within New<br />

Zealand.<br />

One such trainee is Samantha Cooper.<br />

She’s been volunteering at the Māngere<br />

Community Garden for the last three months.<br />

“I want to take what I’m learning here to help<br />

my iwi back home,” she says.<br />

Tom is also using the garden to help kids and<br />

those who normally can’t get down and dirty<br />

in a vege patch.<br />

He’s constructed extra-high raised beds<br />

and concreted a section of the garden so<br />

that people in wheelchairs can come and<br />

experience the joy of sowing and reaping a<br />

little patch of veges.<br />

“I also run workshops to teach people how to<br />

cook different types of veges as many people<br />

don’t know what to do with things like kale or<br />

choko.”<br />

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