On 30 June, Onewa Christian Community ran a Matariki craft afternoon in Northcote for school aged children and their whānau. Cathy and the team delivered an event that had several points of success. Cathy says, ‘I love the way people talked to each other and all expressed appreciation for the afternoon.’
What made our Matariki event a success?
- A friendly atmosphere in which the kids and their families (including small babies) chose to stay and mingle for the full two hours. Kai and socialising as well as crafts for the around 40 guests and 15+ church folk present.
- Through waiata and learning to make poi, kids participated in sharing the significance of Matariki. They engaged readily around the symbolism of the Matariki cluster and this time of the year. Thanks to Raya and Carlo for their wonderful support.
- Guests included Northcote residents who came to our Easter crafts AND families who attend mainly music at our church some distance away AND a couple of people who had turned up to chat because it was our event. (All in Friday afternoon traffic on a stormy day.)
The generosity of our church members (plus a venue and helper from a neighbouring Methodist church) and PressGo support came together to create a time for meaningful connections. We were also able to promote other Matariki activity planned for the area. And, of course, toddlers enjoyed the big toys set up for them.
Greg, our Director of Community Engagement, gathered and tested ideas for new activities we’ll trial, including a knitting group for youngsters and a language ‘market’ to invite speakers of different languages to meet up to exchange something of their respective languages. What are your ideas? Let us know.
