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Reading the System, Strengthening the Vā: Atafa o le Moana Noho Marae
Our Atafa o le Moana rangatahi came together for a three-day Noho Marae - a chance to reconnect, reflect and take stock of the systems-change projects they have been developing since last year.
Across the weekend, we heard about the ideas our rangatahi have been nurturing, the progress they’ve made, the challenges they’ve encountered and, importantly, what they are learning about creating meaningful change.
At Atafa o le Moana, we want our young people to know that passion is powerful — but creating long-term change also requires us to understand the bigger picture.
It means learning to read the system.
What keeps happening, and why? Who holds power? Whose voices are missing? What relationships need strengthening? What policies, practices, resources or ways of thinking might need to shift?
And once we understand the system, what is our role in changing it?
For our rangatahi, that could look like advocacy. It could be a campaign, a policy intervention, storytelling, community organising or creating something entirely new.
The Noho gave them space to step back from the doing and think more deeply about the change they are trying to create.
Creating change as Tangata Tiriti
An important part of this learning was understanding that systems change in Aotearoa cannot happen without understanding our relationship with Tangata Whenua.
Our rangatahi took part in Te Tiriti o Waitangi training facilitated by Māori and Tongan duo Nikau Maxwell and Sisifa Gigi Lui, exploring Te Tiriti, Te Ao Māori and what it means for our Pacific communities to be Tangata Tiriti.
We intentionally wanted this learning to happen while their projects were still developing.
As our rangatahi think about uplifting their own communities, we also want them to ask from the beginning:
How can I do this while being a good Te Tiriti partner?
One of our rangatahi reflected:
“When I moved here 4 years ago from the islands and ‘became’ Tangata Tiriti - it never occurred to me that I have a responsibility to this land.”
They spoke about leaving the Noho knowing that one weekend could never make them an expert, but feeling grateful to have begun a journey of understanding how they could respect and uplift both the whenua and Tangata Whenua in the spaces they enter.
That is exactly the kind of learning we hope Atafa creates.
Not having all the answers, but knowing the questions we have a responsibility to keep asking.
We were never meant to change systems alone
Perhaps one of the biggest reminders of the weekend was that systems change is collective work.
Our rangatahi are passionate.
They have big ideas and an incredible desire to make things better for their communities.
But we don't want them to feel as though changing the world means carrying its problems on their shoulders alone.
We want them to keep following their passions, connecting with community, building relationships and finding others already navigating the same moana.
Because when we work in silos, the mahi becomes heavier.
When we work together, we can share knowledge, resources, responsibility and care for one another's wellbeing along the way.
Over three days, it was incredibly special to sit together and hear how far each project had come. Some ideas had evolved. Some had become clearer. Some were still being questioned and reshaped. And that's part of systems change too.
Atafa o le Moana isn't about giving rangatahi a formula for changing the world. It's about equipping them with the tools to read what is happening around them, understand their place and responsibilities within it, connect with others and navigate towards change with intention.
There is some amazing mahi beginning to emerge from these projects.
Keep an eye out for our Atafa rangatahi as their ideas make their way beyond the Noho and into their communities.
Our young people aren't waiting to become the changemakers of tomorrow. They're learning how to navigate change now.
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