Rangatahi lead the way through peace and compassion

Seed the Change | He Kākano Hāpai and Grow Waitaha have a long-standing commitment to co-designing with rangatahi.

This year Claire Newman and Rebecca Inch from Seed the Change | He Kākano Hāpai gave the co-design team a big list of local speakers. The team chose speakers from this list and also decided how to reach out to them. Claire and Rebecca included the rangatahi in the whole process.

Rebecca shared that the rangatahi “...are here for every step, so they feel valued, not just as a final check. We connect and talk through the whole process so they feel empowered to be honest with us. We don’t want an echo chamber.”

Rangatahi worked together to design the hui and received valuable advice and guidance from experienced facilitators.

“They gave us an open space to make us think about what the students really needed. Listening to student voices is really important. This is the reason why it has been so successful and running for the past three years,” – Bonnie Tang from Te Kura Tuarua o Horomaka Hillmorton High School.

“It started with Rebecca and Claire laying out the basics for us and then us saying yes we like this one, let’s try this one. The hui suited my values and morals. Compassion, empathy, and helping others is pretty cool.” – Peter Bataq from Te Kura Tuarua o Horomaka Hillmorton High School.

“We wanted to create a safe space to have a deep, meaningful conversation about compassion, peace, and empathy. Having an opportunity where different people from different backgrounds can come together to contribute to the conversation was a big thing for us.” – Olivia Bloom from St Andrew's College.

Letting in the perspectives of rangatahi, listening to their evaluation of each hui, and creating space for rangatahi to lead the hui were critical for getting co-design right.

Rebecca explained that, “Students are so bright and full of ideas. I am constantly refining the content based on the students' input. This is what I wanted as a student, this is what would have helped me.”

“The overall goal was to inspire compassionate action but we wanted students to take this away and bring it into their schools, creating their own ideas while listening to all these amazing people talk.”  – Olivia Halaifonua from Te Kura Tuarua o Horomaka Hillmorton High School.

Olivia Bloom also added that, “Contrary beliefs cause better discussion. It’s not just agreement, it might be disagreement but it’s understanding others' perspectives.”

The experience of co-designing the hui reconfirmed the commitment of rangatahi to act and influence wellbeing in their schools.

Bonnie Tang said, “Every school should create a wellbeing committee. Feeling like you belong is really important, especially as a foreigner in New Zealand.”

Peter Bataq also added that, “We want to make a bigger change in the people, creating a ripple effect for future generations.”

The team shared the challenges of prioritising wellbeing in their schools, which is compounded by the pressures of sports and academics.

Olivia Bloom shared that, “Wellbeing is at the core of school culture. You can’t be an incredible sportsperson if you don’t have good wellbeing. You can’t perform academically if you’re not mentally OK. Sometimes that gets forgotten.” 

It was meaningful for rangatahi to have space to talk to each other easily and share personal experiences. Giving our rangatahi time to work together to solve problems in their kura and share their common goals is crucial.

Olivia Halaifonua said, “Students underestimate how much teachers are willing to listen and learn from them. We recently presented to the staffroom of 70 teachers and they were really engaged. They were really excited to change what we are passionate about.”

Olivia Bloom said, “Everyone is willing to listen to youth voice. We need to give them an opportunity to listen to us. Once they hear what we have to say, they’ll take it into account.”

The venue for the first hui was Christchurch Multicultural Recreation and Community Centre, a space that promotes diversity and inclusivity and welcomes people from all walks of life.

The theme of the first hui was tūrangawaewae. What does this mean to rangatahi across Waitaha? How might we create a place where all people can truly feel a sense of belonging through exploring culture and identity?

The event started with an icebreaker led by Jacinda Gilligan, somatic educator and coach. She guided rangatahi through a somatic exercise to expand their awareness of themselves and others.

“Our identity evolves throughout our lives. The culture of what we will or will not tolerate starts with ourselves,” says Jacinda.

During her lessons learned presentation, Rebecca Inch, a political science and law student at Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha University of Canterbury, reminded rangatahi that there is truth in all the sayings about having a support system.

One rangatahi commented that, “Seeing someone young navigating their way was good.”

One of Rebecca’s messages was that life truly takes a village and leaning on your support system is crucial for supporting wellbeing.

“You can’t do it alone, I’ve learned. Be compassionate to the people you don’t know,” said Rebecca. 

The room was filled with hope for the future of our rangatahi after the keynote from Kate Dewes, whose work as an academic, peace activist, and advisor to the United Nations is partly focussed on nuclear disarmament.

“Normally we see ourselves at the end of the world but actually we’re at the centre,” shared Kate.

One rangatahi says, “It was cool to have someone of her standing. She has done so much. It was true and meant a lot.”

In 1982, it was through the actions of brave, local people that Ōtautahi became the world's first nuclear-free city. Kate’s long-standing commitment to nuclear disarmament began here in Ōtautahi but she said it was based on all those dedicated to peaceful activism before her, including local resident Elsie Locke.

Kate talked about the power of working together to change the world and rangatahi found listening to her simply inspirational. Some shared how it made them think differently:

• “Working together can make a difference.”
• “We need to do things locally to make an impact globally.”
• “Small groups can affect change.”
• “If you believe in something, do something about it.”

Kerry Hall and Suzi Gould from Grow Waitaha set rangatahi up to work collaboratively through a proaction canvas for long-term thinking towards future goals.

“Group discussion was valuable and insightful. It got you thinking about other ideas. Engaging when you hear other perspectives,” said one rangatahi.

The hui culminated in a panel discussion with Jacinda, Rebecca, Kate, and rangatahi wellbeing leader Dev Gajjard from Te Kura Tuarua o Horomaka Hillmorton High School.

Dev shared that at his kura they are holding a wellbeing week during the last week of term 3. This includes running a survey to understand the wellbeing of rangatahi and what the school can do to improve it. The results of the survey will be analysed by the student wellbeing team and they will take action.

Olivia Halaifonua from Te Kura Tuarua o Horomaka Hillmorton High School opened the second hui with encouragement for the day: “We hope you begin to recognise how important peace and compassion are in our lives.”

Aria Wilke from St Andrew's College shared a compelling speech about forgiveness. Aria says, “We have a psychological and emotional need for forgiveness. It plays a crucial role in our wellbeing. It reaches far beyond individual peace, shapes relationships, unity and extended connection, and has many positive benefits.”

Like carrying around a heavy backpack, the physical burden of unresolved conflict and a lack of forgiveness causes immense stress. By forgiving we unload the “emotional baggage and open the doors to a fresh start, taking a rock out of our heavy backpack.” Can we learn to forgive? Aria’s short answer is yes. We can learn forgiveness through intentional practice and understanding different perspectives. To illustrate this point, Aria shared a video featuring Farid Ahmed, a Christchurch mosque shootings survivor, and a role model for forgiveness. “Forgiveness has helped me a lot,” Farid says in the video. Farid’s powerful message about forgiveness has inspired many rangatahi.

Aria applied Farid’s approach to forgiveness to her own life. Aria says, “I would like to see more forgiveness practices. I haven’t seen it in any curriculum areas but it is such a big thing to see other people’s perspectives. It allows you to move forward as a person.”

Audible gasps were heard when Aria finished her speech with, “Forgiveness is the needle that knows how to mend.”

Wenbo Fan from Te Kura Tuarua o Horomaka Hillmorton High School reflected on the messages he’d learned during the hui, “As the need to rely on each other and cooperate increases in our society, the need for forgiveness becomes stronger. Forgiveness is important, particularly in situations where bullying is happening in our schools. If I am being bullied, do I speak up about it or do I forgive the bully?”

Another rangatahi commented, “We’ve got to put a stop to revenge.”

Charter for Compassion member, John Sellwood encouraged rangatahi to begin with acts of self-compassion.

“How can we care about others when we are so busy being angry or disappointed in ourselves? That’s not a very compassionate act, is it? We can control our ability to regulate. Things that can bring us to a place where we feel calmer, safer, and more grounded,” John says.

Through guiding rangatahi through a 3-step practice, of tracking, resourcing, and grounding John reminded us that we can all practise self-compassion, just like practising the violin.

“Self-love is I am happy with who I am regardless of what you think of me. I am a human, I have weaknesses as well as brilliance. I will survive.”

Olivia Bloom says, “My perspective of wellbeing has really changed. The more we have been working together, the more I see wellbeing as a personal journey.”

Through powerful expressions of solidarity and support, including our responses to March 15th, Lianne Dalziel reminded rangatahi of the importance of community, trust, and empathy.

“It feels good to help others from a perspective of compassion,” Lianne says.

In the face of a crisis, a different form of leadership is required. “Good news,” she expressed to the rangatahi, “You’re more prepared than you think.” Through the example of Te Hunga Tūao The Student Volunteer Army, she asked, “Do we have to wait for an emergency for this?”

Lianne reminded the rangatahi that we all have a collective responsibility and as leaders, “you take your lead from the situation you’re confronted with.” Working with our communities to understand their needs is an important part of leading with compassion.

Olivia Halaifonua commented that, “Empathy and compassion are really important. I care about caring for people. On the news, I see so much hate so I really want to be part of change here in Christchurch.”

When asked by a rangatahi what advice Lianne would give youth to lead with compassion, she replied:

• Listen first.
• Ask people, don’t be afraid to ask people.
• Build relationships first, don’t start when the disaster happens.
• Know your neighbours. You need to fall back on these relationships.
• Be prepared to engage in a long-term relationship. It is not transactional.
• When people don’t agree, try to gather a broader context for perspectives.

The rangatahi have also been part of the development of a new resource for rangatahi, Compassion in Action. The resource was created by Mahia te Aroha and Seed the Change | He Kākano Hāpai in partnership with rangatahi and Grow Waitaha. We would like to thank all the rangatahi who shared their thoughts and ideas with us.

Olivia Halaifonua said underpinning the resource is "the idea of sharing messages of positivity. It’s helping a culture shift that we’re currently doing at our school trying to remove tall poppy syndrome. This resource will help build the way we talk to teachers and students about how we want to change the culture at our school.”

Peter Bataq said, “When we see change in those schools, those people will speak up and try to action what they’ve learned here back in their committees. Everyone at least picked up something.”

Where to next? Olivia Halaifonua shared that, “In term 4 we’re hoping to ask everyone who came [to the hui] how they have implemented what they’ve learned. We will all benefit from these hui. We will put these ideas into action in our school. We’re very passionate when we’re making others passionate about it.”

• “Try forgiveness out because by trying it out you can let it go, move forward, and heal relationships.” – Aria
• “Listen to the kids, they are smart people.” – Rebecca
• “We’re creating resources that all wellbeing committees can use. Use them now for the future.” – Peter
• “Schools need to be prioritising wellbeing as much as sports and academics. Wellbeing impacts sports and academics so if you don’t already have a wellbeing committee, start to bring this up during the school councils.” – Olivia Halaifonua
• “Start with a group of passionate people. I reckon there is always a group that is willing to make a difference. If you get these people together, they can build the foundation. In my school, we encourage all year and age groups to get different opinions. It is important to cast the net wide for wellbeing.” – Olivia Bloom
• Have a policy of wear-your-own-clothes to the hui so that groups can’t create cliques that would exclude rangatahi from other kura.

Man who lost wife in Christchurch mosque attack describes the common sense behind forgiveness | Stuff

Our Ōtautahi – Stronger Together : Inspiring youth to lead the change - Grow Waitaha

Christchurch Schools Wellbeing Hui - Grow Waitaha

Mahia te Aroha The Christchurch Invitation 

Seed The Change | He Kākao Hāpai

Student Volunteer Army