Accomplishments
Highlights of 2025 so far…
Hawkes Bay Clean-Up November
The MokoBoys were invited back for the third time to tautoko with the ongoing clean-up mahi post-cyclone alongside the Centurion Motorcycle Club. We did a range of mahi from felling trees, mass weeding/weedeating & weed mat laying, building a shed and fencing.
Toitū Te Reo
For the second year in a row, our MokoBoys took our Māku Organics stall down to the Toitū te reo event held in Hastings. It was awesome to be amongst the vibes and everyone coming together for the betterment of te reo Māori. Thank you to all our loyal customers, every purchase is an investment in the future of our rangatahi & their many kaupapa.
USA Haerenga
Our rangatahi leaders had the privilege of going to Hawai’i for a Indigenous exchange around the way that kai is planted. We visited Ho’okua’āina to learn how about the whakapapa of kalo as well as cleaning & preparing it. We spent the day at Paepae o He’eia, a nonprofit dedicated to restoring & revitalising 800-year olfactory Heeia Fishpond. Our crew supported building a rock wall and collecting fish for an upcoming community event. As the saying goes ‘do the mahi, get the treats, after our mahi was done we headed to LA to experience the Hollywood lifestyle. It was a lifechanging trip. Our favourite part was seeing the aroha & care the Hawai’ian rangatahi have for their culture.
Te Manawa Taki AOD Conference
Our rangatahi leaders were invited alongside our Founder to present our unique rangahau model at the Rotorua regional conference as well as run the rangatahi stream. We met some talented rangatahi who came up with a mini show portraying our groups thoughts on youth addictions which we presented back to the whole conference. We also met the man, the myth, the effin news guy, Paddy Gower. One of our Pakaru Pānui presenters even interviewed him!
‘Where there’s smoke’ Legacy Tour
Our rōpū travelled Te Ika a Māui, for two weeks, presenting our ‘Where there’s smoke’ legacy tour. 10 years ago we began mahi in suicide prevention, and the message we got from this tour is that it is still as important now as it was back then.
Our rangatahi travelled to Mahia, Tokoroa, Rotorua, Hastings, Wellington City, Porirua and Upper Hutt to deliver the shows. Our show, was about spreading a message of hope through dance, acting, waiata and haka. We were privileged to perform one of our shows for the Children’s Commission, sharing the voices of Hawkes Bay with the motu!
Two weeks of travelling and performing was an experience that doesn’t come around very often. The hard work we put in definitely paid off. Not only did we see how the audiences were touched by the story, but their feedback was that it was a life-saving show. It was an experience that we will always remember for the rest of our lives, and we are grateful to have experienced it surrounded by people we love.
Hawai’i Exchange
We had the privilege of welcoming Welo Ka Hae, a group of students from Roosevelt High School in Hawai‘i, on an exchange. In Rotorua, we hosted them for a night of kai, whakawhanaungatanga, and plenty of dishes — the full marae experience.
We also attended a special hautapu ceremony led by Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, waking early to honour Matariki, give thanks, and set goals for the year ahead.
Their journey continued to Napier, where we welcomed them onto Te Ara o Tāwhaki marae at EIT. Over five days, they joined us for workshops, school visits, and cultural exchanges with Toi Matarua. We ended our time together with a bonfire, shared kai, reflections, and their final celebration at our Matariki Ball.
Tū Tārake Matariki ball
One of our big events this year june was the Tū Tārake Matariki Ball!
A stunning night where our community came together at the Napier War Memorial to celebrate Matariki through kai, kōrero, kapa haka and whanaungatanga. We had guest performances from Welo Ka Hae and Tamatea High School. We had around 150 attendees, rangatahi from the community, our MokoBoys kaumātua a.k.a our VVIPs and Toi Matarua’s volunteers and stakeholders. We also had the launch of one of our brand new products - Rongo by Māku Organics which is the MokoBoys social enterprise. The night concluded with a dance party and we had prizes for the Mauri (the best vibe), Cutest Couple, Best Dressed Boy & Girl, Dance King & Queen, Prince & Princess and finally the King & Queen. This event was a chance for us to celebrate Matariki in our own youth-focused way.
Rongo
Māku Organics soft-launched our new line of bokashi composting products ‘Rongo’ - YES like Rongomātāne & like Rongoā! Our goal is to support the regeneration of Hawkes Bay’s soil after the devastation caused by Cyclone Gabrielle. All proceeds go towards our MokoBoys team providing FREE household care to local kaumātua.
Hard-launch is coming soon… 👀
Waitangi Day Hangi
This Waitangi Day, our team commemorated with a hangi in our very own backyard! The Toi Matarua ‘Uncles’ came in to guide our rangatahi on the whole process from digging the hole to uncovering and bringing up our kai. Little Miss Ringawera a.k.a our Founder/Director a.k.a Aunty Char supported us with all the kai prep. What a mean way to come together in the New Year
Te Ahi Kā x MokoBoys Exchange
In March our MokoBoys team headed to Pōneke for an exchange with Taitā College’s Te Ahi Kā class who work to regenerate their schools native wetland and bush. The exchange was based around te taiao. Our MokoBoys facilitated workshops on rongoā and Rongo - our new composting system. Te Ahi Kā took us through identifying natives and invasives, conservation mahi and māra kai. We also got a taster of what both our’s and Te Ahi Kā’s mahi could lead to with a Ranger from the Department of Conservation coming in to kōrero about pest control. It was an amazing experience with like-minded rangatahi.
Recruitment Day & Wānanga
Our rangtahi leaders held a recruitment day to get some more local rangatahi involved in the encores of our show ‘Undiscovered’. The day involved drama, haka, waiata and dance workshops and a mean kai. We had a great turnout with many rangatahi jumping on board!
Over the next two months we held wānanga at our HQ to prepare our show. The show has themes of mental health awareness and youth incarceration so we invited in a few guest speakers along the way to deepen our connection to the performance. We had kōrero from a rangatahi who spoke about his experiences in prison and decision to turn his life around. The beautiful Whaea Waireti came in to speak about and share the healing powers of vibrations or ihirangaranga. Finally, we had Mates4Life deliver their suicide awareness kōrero which helped us to connect all the tools we discuss in the show and at wānanga to real life situations.
‘Undiscovered’ 2025 Youth Production - ENCORES
What began as one encore show led to two! We started off with taking our show to Te Tairāwhiti where we were generously hosted by Te Aka Ora Charitable Trust. We spent a day with their rangatahi playing kēmu, and running kī-o-rahi and dance workshops. It went so well we were able to incoporate their rangatahi in our final dance at our show the following day. We had a full house at Lawson Field Theatre.
When we got home our whānau really wanted to see what we had been up to so we held a final community show at Tamatea High School. Our rangatahi put it on for their whānau with one of our best shows yet.
Now we are itching for more! Stay tuned… 👀
Hawkes Bay Clean-Up March
For the second year, our MokoBoys were invited to attend the Hawkes Bay Clean Up day with the Centurion Motorcycle Club, Martha Taonui and the Hawkes Bay Clean Up Crew. The crew received mentorship from the tāne about tools, chainsaws and trades mahi all whilst giving back to their community. They also got to have a bit of fun riding on the motorcycles and sharing kai and kōrero.
Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou!
Unity Day Awards
Our MokoBoys were invited to MC Napier Pilot City Trust’s annual Unity Day at the Napier War Memorial. Our crew done an amazing job with feedback that they brought a vibrant energy and helped the event to run smoothly.
The crew were awarded a Unity Day award for their contribution in the community through the MokoBoys kaupapa, making a special shoutout to “all the Nannies that made it possible”.
Our amazing Founder and Director, Charlizza Matehe also received an award for her continuous mahi supporting the development of rangatahi in Napier. Congrats Aunty Char!!!
