Homeless families taken in by Auckland's Te Puea Marae were treated to a special day out on Wednesday, thanks to the efforts of teacher Jackie Clark.
But Ms Clark says the honour is all hers - in her 20 years of teaching, she'd never seen the gentle parenting she witnessed with the people of Te Puea.
The story begins two months ago, when Te Puea Marae rose to national prominence for taking in a number of homeless families. Ms Clark saw the work they were doing and decided to help raise money.
Using her existing Givealittle page, Ms Clark started raising money to buy toiletries for Te Puea.
She says she managed to raise about $3500. Using the donations, Ms Clark did a shop for the marae, and transferred the rest of the money to Te Puea.
Since then, Ms Clark has been visiting Te Puea weekly, and has formed relationships with the social workers.
Meanwhile, donations amounting to about $400 continued to float through to the page she runs. She says the notes people had written made it clear the donations were meant for Te Puea, rather than the other charity she volunteers for.
Ms Clark thought about getting more resources and items for the marae with the funds. They often need practical things people wouldn't think of - things like hand sanitiser and rubbish bags.
"But I thought, 'Why not do a trip?'
"When I went down there and explained the trip [to the social workers], they went, 'Oh my God. That's amazing.'"
So Ms Clark decided to organise a trip to Kelly Tarlton's. She arranged a "wonderful deal" with the aquarium, sorted out a double-decker bus and took 30 adults, 29 children and 10 babies on the trip.
Jackie Clark aboard the bus she organised (photo by Mokotini Templeton)
Although she's become a regular visitor, most of Ms Clark's contact with Te Puea has been with marae coordinators and social workers, rather than the families they have been housing.
Being on the trip gave her a different insight. She says the respect and love she witnessed from the families on the trip was unbelievable.
"People have imaginings about what things are like and they're always wrong.
"I had no idea."
She was blown over by the "respect with which they treat each other and their children. So respectful - and with each other's children too."
Ms Clark says the marae has fostered a sense of community among those they are housing. She says she's witnessed the manifestation of kaupapa Māori - concepts of tuakana-teina and manaakitanga.
The tuakana-teina relationship refers to an older person guiding a younger or less experienced person. Manaakitanga is a concept of hospitality, respect and generosity.
"It strikes me always that no one benefits from Pākehā kaupapa," Ms Clark says. "Everyone benefits from Māori kaupapa."
For those attempting to access welfare, Ms Clark says Work and Income is humiliating.
"It's degrading. There's a racist super-structure in place. People don't know what help they can access. People need advocates. They need someone to strong-arm the department in question so they can access the services."
But she says the people taken in at Te Puea Marae now have the support they need to take control of their own destiny.
"If you give someone the support they need, they take the reins and they're up and gone."
Ms Clark says she was grateful for the experience.
The people of Te Puea, she says, "made me more compassionate and more kickass".
Newshub.
