(RELAXED REGGAE MUSIC) - Manga Tangaroa, he is kind. He is humble. He is loving. He's a singer. - (SQUEALS) - We don't actually label him with the things, the conditions. The main kaupapa is that his chromosomal makeup is different. Manga Tangaroa was nearly 2 years old, and we had a korero around where he would go for kura. And there just wasn't really a space for him. And at the time I thought, OK, I'm a teacher, I'm gonna homeschool all of my kids. And then a few weeks later I walked around the house, and I just saw exactly how I had to set it up to be a puna reo. So I went to my husband and I said, 'Hon, we're building a school!' And off he went to building school, and off he went to go and learn this and learn that. We had a whare in Auckland before we moved up. We sold that. We fundraised over $115,000 in three months. It was pretty special. Manga Tangaroa has taught me how to give more opportunity and more chances to those who aren't getting them. Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2024 (GROUP SINGS WAIATA IN TE REO MAORI) - Ko Ihu Karaita to matou Ariki. Amine. - Amine. Tena koe, Hone. Haere mai, Lottie. Haere mai ` anei, anei. Manga Tangaroa has a unique relationship with each of his siblings. He really loves his big sister Kaainga. She's always been there to comfort him, to reassure him, and he really trusts her. Hone ` they're just like... your normal brother duo. They playfight, they tell jokes, they laugh. They're just your typical brothers. Yvonne was only 18 months when Manga Tangaroa was born, so she was still a baby herself. And she just thinks that he gets away with everything and that he's spoilt. (CHUCKLES) Lottie ` she's his baby. Right from when she was a newborn, he was her protector. Because he's her big brother. My husband is amazing. I've heard him, like, talking about it to other people. They'll be like, 'Oh, your wife, man.' And he'll say, 'Brother, you just gotta let them fly.' And in the back of my mind I'm like, 'On a broomstick,' you know? But... (CHUCKLES) Pick him up. I've never really been into people rushing out to google, 'What's wrong with my baby?' I've never shared publicly that these are his conditions. It was something that Manga and I agreed on before he was born that... that's korero that's tapu to him, because we don't think that's the important part of him. Hoha? So we will generalise it. So we'll say he has a brain condition. As parents, that's our part, to protect his... mana motuhaketanga. How do you feel about your turu? - (SNORTS) - You get to be in your own self. Not having to sit how Mama sits you. Like, you can look at our baby and know that he rereke ` there's something, um, unique about him. I'll miss you so much. I don't think there's one person in the world that's exactly like him. Mm. (CHUCKLES) We can bring... (GENTLE PIANO MUSIC) Or we can bring this taniwha. Ae. You hold him. Mwah-mwah-mwah! We do eye gaze ` we do eye choices. He doesn't get frustrated. He just cheers. We can learn a lot from that. You can teach the whole world, son. Right now we got mahi to do. We all got jobs to do, even you. - But his job might just be to, you know, make people happy. (SMOOTH REGGAE MUSIC) - I was frustrated. I was actually sad. And I said, 'Aha ki a ia?' You know, where's a space for my boy? Where's a place for my baby? And that's when I heard. I heard the voice of my karani, my Nana Pa. And he said, 'Nona tenei whare, nona tenei kura.' And then we sold our whare. I made a deal with my husband. He was supposed to get a Harley, and I was getting every other dollar to build the school. - The insulator's punched that hole through to put the insulation in. - But then I used up all my part of the deal, and then I took his Harley putea as well and used that. And we still weren't quite there, so we started fundraising. And that's when we saw just the aroha that the motu had. So I was inspired to build this 100% because of Mango Tangaroa. And then now it's so much bigger than him and I, you know, because it's for all tama-ariki. We have had tamariki, like, with cerebral palsy, or we have tamariki with ADHD, we have tamariki with takiwatanga. 'Takiwatanga' ` ko te kupu Maori mo te 'autism'. (TEACHERS RECITE IN TE REO MAORI) Te kupu 'tama-ariki', it's just such an empowering kupu. When we say dis-abled or if we say dis-order, it kind of creates that 'less-than', you know? Whereas kupu like 'takiwatanga' or 'tama-ariki', it puts a more-than lens on it. And so 'tama-ariki', it's adding ` it's adding to the child, not taking away. - OK, Manga Tangaroa. Ko mahi koe i tenei. Mo te whanau. Pupuri tenei. - (SIGHS) - Ae. Yeah, we're all tired, son, but we have work to do. We all have to do mahi, even you. I don't think we've tasted this one, but I like it. He tino reka ki au. All right. So, when he was born, he was just... he was breastfed, and he used to eat, um... you know, all the things that a pepi would have. Ae! I can see you want some more. And then after one of the brain surgeries to put a shunt into his brain with a catheter that drains off the excess spinal fluid out of his brain, and then it needed a few revisions ` it wasn't working properly. And then after one of those revisions, he forgot how to swallow. Good moving your mouth. Tino pai. Ae! Good. That's great. You're moving it around. And they just said, 'Oh, it might have been the anaesthetic,' you know. 'Just keep offering it, and it will come back,' and that. But it just never came back. And so now he's fully, um... fed through a gastrostomy tube that's in his stomach. And that was one of the big things about heading over to Australia, was getting the support needed to get my baby eating again. While we were there, we trialled the VitalStim therapy where they actually put these, like, electromagnet... electric current things on his throat that stimulates the swallow reflex. And it was beautiful to see, you know, cos he was so excited. And then, on maybe the third session, he ate and swallowed safely around three tablespoons of custard. - Not as yummy as the custard. - And I was like, man! This is amazing, you know? I've been... I just want that for my baby. I want him to have a kai. Cos kai is` Kai, when you're a Maori, it's not just a meal. He aha tenei? It's not just food. Like, kai has so much mana. - Aue! Tiakarete ano? - That's why we're so luscious, because we have kai for everything. We have kai when we're happy, sad ` you know, at hui, at tangi. Like, it's a huge part of who we are, and... I want him to have that in his life, that part of our culture, for him to be involved. - (BURPS) - It's not organic, homemade, you know, but we're just practising. And we can have custard. Look at Manga Tangaroa. He's having custard! - Custard? - You cheer for him. You say, 'Ka pai, Manga Tangaroa!' - Ka pai, Manga Tangaroa. - He's rolling. He's pushing to stand. Yeah, Mungzy! Haere mai! 'He's got more head control.' He comes up and out of his headrest, to look around the corner. - Ah, that's a good boy! - Whoo-hoo! - Look at your head! You're so amazing! - ALL: Mungzy! Mungzy! Mungzy! - Mungzy! Whoo-hoo! - (LAUGHS) - Wow! (CHUCKLES) Wow! - (LAUGHS) - Wow, ne? His arms... his fingers ` he's opening his hands. E tu. E tu. Ko wai tenei tuatangata? And down. I'm so proud. You're so awesome. (SCHOOL GROUP SINGS WAIATA IN TE REO MAORI) - Nau mai, haere mai. Nau mai, haere mai. Ko whaea...? - Ko Emily ahau. ` Kia ora, Emily! - ALL: Kia ora, Emily. - To hoa? - Ko Holly ahau. - Kia ora, Holly! Mihi atu ki a Holly. - ALL: Kia ora, Holly. - Music therapy is the use of music within a therapeutic relationship, usually with a registered music therapist. And it's to address non-musical goals generally, so... that can be motor coordination, or working on social skills in a community setting, or supporting someone who's working on communication goals or speech goals as well. - # Takahia, takahia, takahia. # Wiriwiri tinana. # Hurihuri, hurihuri, hurihuri. # Kanikani-kani ki a koutou. # - So, Manga Tangaroa, he's a singer, you know? (CHUCKLES) He loves singing. - The purpose is to work on goals in a musical and creative way, and in a collaborative environment. - (LAUGHS) - (SINGS) We're using music to engage and promote action and the mechanics of our mouths to sing, to be able to then speak later with clarity. - Well, music really taps into the emotional centres of our brain. Just like emotions rise and fall, so too does music. Sometimes if there's something there, it will amplify that, because of the intensity or the volume or the quickness of the music. (PLAYS WISTFUL TUNE) - (CHUCKLES) - Mungzy's a beautiful, beautiful person. Um... It was just wonderful to have the opportunity to make music with him. You saw him holding the bow, pulling it across. (VIOLIN HUMS) - (GIGGLES) - You saw him playing with his fingers on the guitar and really working towards those movements. He didn't just, like, sit there and go, 'Oh, I'm not gonna do that.' He was right in there and just constantly singing and also vocalising throughout as well. So engaged, so alive. (OPTIMISTIC ACOUSTIC GUITAR MUSIC) - He wouldn't even pash me up on our wedding day, in front of everyone. Mai te korowai? We got nominated for the community of the year award. We're just this humble little puna reo up in Kaikohe. (LAUGHS) He loves wearing good clothes. He loves wearing number ones. - (LAUGHS) - Ae. Ae, Manga Tangaroa. I know those nannies are gonna come in for the pash. The beautiful thing that it does is it brings our tama-ariki into the limelight, where historically, they've been pushed on the side. Dad chose this one. Mum wanted the suit jacket, Dad said, 'Nah, bro!' It helps to continue the conversation. It helps to have that korero about... why did we have to build a school in the first place for him? Why couldn't he just be at your fullas' school? All right. - (CHUCKLES) - Mm-hm, ae. You can't wait to wear this one. Do you think we're gonna win or lose? I think we already won. Not as in the prize, but we've won because we get to be a reo for our children with disabilities in public. - And if you think about it and what our kaupapa actually was, was to bring awareness, that our tamariki are getting the recognition they deserve. (WOMAN CHANTS KARANGA) (SOOTHING ACOUSTIC GUITAR MUSIC) - He turituri? He turituri? He hoihoi? - Haere mai! Haere mai! Whakatau mai ra! (APPLAUSE) - # Tau hou marie... - TONI STREET: It's time now to introduce you to the three finalists for the Mitre 10 New Zealand Community of the year ` Nga Pou Whirinaki o te Tau. To kick off this award, please welcome your first finalist, Aviva, represented tonight by co-leader Gwenda Kendrew. - SCOTTY MORRISON: Next up, let's get to know our second finalist, Te Puna Reo o Manga Tangaroa, represented on stage this evening by founder Clara Aperehama-Kopa. (CHEERING, APPLAUSE) - What I learned from my karani was, you just gotta turn up, for your people, for your whanau, for your iwi, for your hapori. And especially turn up... - (COOS HAPPILY) (CROWD CHUCKLES) - He's a singer. He thinks we're about to bust out a waiata. - TONI: He can see the mic. - Ae. But we just need to turn up for each other, and especially need to turn up for those who can't. Sorry. He thinks he's famous, that's why. (LAUGHTER) - He kinda is right now. - Say kia ora. - (GRUNTS) - Hi. Kia ora. Sorry. (APPLAUSE) - The 2024 Mitre 10 New Zealand Community of the Year winner is... the Cyclone Gabriel volunteers. (CHEERING, APPLAUSE) - MANGA: It was an honour to be nominated. It's a huge honour. It's a privilege that us as a whanau ` not just our whanau, though, but our community in Kaikohe, all of those people that have supported our little kaupapa, we wouldn't have been here without them. What's next? Well... I don't know how serious she is, but she's always pretty serious, my wife. And she's been talking about building a school. Yeah. (OPTIMISTIC ACOUSTIC GUITAR MUSIC) - Kahore. Mahi te mahi. You the only good one. The rest of them's got no ears. Ae. - (GIGGLES) - Thank you for cheering for me, baby. Ae. (CHUCKLES) - Don't want a dirty driveway... for our nice house. - We can watch movies... - He's a lovely person. - Who is? - Mungzy. I'd describe him as a fun guy, because he's always wanting to play, not just wanting to watch the TV all day. And I love that he's always tired, like me. I don't know why. Probably cos we're getting older. - We're going to be working with Akau to do a master plan. So we have an empty section here. You have to legally be enrolled at school when you're 6. And so we're looking at maybe having a small kura for maybe five students... or something. I don't know, I've gotta get my... - Tell them about all your other dreams. - I gotta get my boyfriend on board. He said, no more, no more` - Your boyfriend might help, but your husband won't. - OK, there he goes. That's why he's getting called 'boyfriend', cos he's arguing back all the time. - # Uia mai ra te patai. # Uia ma ra te urupounamu. # He aha te mea nui... - When Manga Tangaroa turns 6 in August, he has to legally be enrolled in a school. But I don't actually want him to go to any of those schools, unless I go with him. But they're not gonna hire a teacher just for one baby. - The biggest concern I have is our whare tapa wha. And we already know we got smashed just building a puna. It took a huge hit on us as a whanau, spiritually, financially, mentally. You know? And that's the risk, cos it's taken ages for us to get back on our feet. - This is what you have always told me. Power flows to the point of focus. Those are the words you share with me all the time. - Mm. - So if you focus on problems, there's more problems. But if we focus on solutions, haere mai. - Well, I'll tell you what, I tell you what. I'm willing to have another yarn about it. I'm willing to have a karakia about it. And I think I've just gotta be a little bit more open-minded. And this whole journey has always been about giving the best for our son. (RESOLUTE GUITAR MUSIC) - Manga Tangaroa... has already changed the world. And I think that he's going to continue to change the world through his example of loving kindness. Ae. - (SQUEALS) - My job as a mum is to make sure that he gets the opportunities that he deserves and just be there to tautoko and support him to do whatever he wants to do. I'm not sure. I just hope that he knows that his mama and papa... have tried their very best. WHISPERS: Ae. Caption by Jason Conran. Edited by James Brown. Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air.