Help celebrate Te wiki o te reo Māori (Māori language week) on 13-19th Hepetema/Mahuru (September) 2021

Nā Troy Brockbank (Pou ārahi Māori, PDP & Water NZ Board member), Debra Harrington (Media Manager, Water NZ), rātou ko Paris Elwood (Graphic Designer, Water NZ).

Waiora Aotearoa (Water New Zealand) is proud to once again tautoko (to support) Te Wiki o te Reo Māori (Māori Language Week), 13-19 Mahuru (September) 2021.

Have fun this Te Wiki o te reo Māori, and Kia kaha ake (give it a go)! Also check out the other Te Reo Māori initiatives such as the Māori Language Moment and Mahuru Māori.

This year?Te Wā Tuku Reo Māori (a Māori Language Moment)?is to be held on Tuesday 14th September at 12pm (during Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori). This time and date celebrates the anniversary of petition (number 42), calling for courses in Māori language and culture to be offered in New Zealand schools, supported by 30,000 signatories being presented to Parliament back in September 14th 1972. This year, Te Taura Whiri i?te reo Māori?(The Māori Language Commission) is?encouraging all of New Zealand to stop and take a moment for te reo Māori. They are attempting to?set the world record for people speaking and celebrating an endangered, Indigenous language at the same time. So get amongst it, have a kōrero about wai (water) and kia kaha ake!

In recent years Waiora Aotearoa has helped to celebrate Te Wiki o te Reo Māori in a number of ways including producing a poster (2020, 2019, 2018) that can be put on your walls, or above your desks. This year we are focusing our poster on our workforce and jobs in the industry - He aha tō mahi / What is your job?.

Take a look at the our poster & guideline - Have a go at using the te reo Māori naming equivalent of your job title during Te Wiki o te Reo Māori. Add it to your email signatures, used it in your introductions this week, keep using it past this week!

If you don’t find your job title on the Te Wiki o te Reo Māori 2021 – Ngā momo Kaimahi Whakapai Wai poster, feel free to do some rangahau (research) and kia kaha ake (give it a go). Here are some mīharo (amazing) rauemi (resources) for job titles:

• Māori name for Engineer - Te Ao Rangahau Engineering NZ
• Job titles in the public sector - Taura whiri i te reo Māori
• Roles and Job Titles - Waipapa Taumata Rau University of Auckland
• Job Titles - Mana Recruitment
• Search at Careers.govt.nz
• Search on Māori Dictionary

Once you have determined your te reo Māori job title, kōrero atu (say it). Share it with your colleagues, friends, whānau and ask them;

He aha tō mahi? - What is your job?

Join the conversation online and share your job titles with Waiora Aotearoa. We are keen to hear your te reo Māori job titles, so please feel free to share them with us via social media using the hashtag #Heahatōmahi and by tagging @waternewzealand. Also, don’t forget to use the official Te Wiki o te Reo Māori hashtag #reoMāori and #Tewikiotereomāori.

Looking forward, we are going to need to almost double our water workforce over the next 30 years. That’s as many as 9000 w jobs and many new skills will be also needed. It’s one of the reasons that our work around workforce, skills, and competency has become a key part of what Waiora Aotearoa does.

We also know that many of our jobs will be at the frontline, in delivery, and in our regions because there is a real connection between what we, as tāngata (people) of Aotearoa, do in the three waters sector – stormwater, wastewater and drinking water – to ensure that our freshwater, our awa and moana, and therefore our people, remain healthy.

Ka ora te wai, ka ora te whenua, ka ora ngā tāngata - If the water is healthy, the land is healthy, the people are healthy

First published at https://www.waternz.org.nz/Story?Action=View&Story_id=1555 and altered here.