By Joe Wilson
Image: Edz Wehi and two of her inspiring rangatahi during filming of Te Kura Taiao in September.
The mahi for Lots of Little Fires has been deeply embedded in our grass roots community over the past three years shining a light on the slow burn, long lasting mahi that special people and kaupapa in our hāpori are leading.
Often, the story development stages are like the mahi; slow burning and deeply intentional and because of this, building trust, understanding the story and what the key messages we want to help our people share take time. But for the end of this year, we are happy to celebrate the successful release of Sam Troth's Story ‘The Road to Healing’ and excited to soon share two upcoming and final stories of 2025.
Capturing the Ataahua Story of Te Kura Taiao in Te Kuiti with Erina Wehi
The story production and filming for this special story has taken some time to gather and capture as the busy life of Edz Wehi is full force and non-stop! Constantly advocating for hāpori and creating aspirational opportunities for the 35 plus rangatahi and whanau she serves through Te Kura Taiao.
Deep in the wilds of Te Kuiti, Edz welcomed Murdoch and I into her world and the mahi she leads. Showing us just how she goes about a typical day with her rangatahi and how she educates and inspires them to be Kaitaikitanga for Te Taiao for the future generations of her hapu and the betterment of her people.
Through activities in the awa, ngaahere and moana, Edz lives and breathes this kaupapa and creates pathways and opportunities for her rangatahi to engage in and lead not only locally but nationally and internationally. Constantly fighting for equity and justice, Edz is simply a legend.
The boys really were incredible showing such enthusiasm and wisdom at such young ages for Te Taiao and pride in their Auntie and the kaupapa she leads. Also… talk about future cinematographers!
Edz’s story will be released end of October and we really cannot wait to gift this precious taonga of her story she has shared with us at Lots of Little Fires and hope we can continue to advocate and awhi her to carry this kaupapa forward, to keep the little fired burning for the next generation of Kaitiakitanga of Te Taiao.
Te Whare Korowai o Kirikiriroa
Lots of Little Fires filmed another story in late September with the sensationally big hearted, driven and no-nonsense change makers at Te Whare Korowai o Kirikiriroa. After deep connections between kaupapa LoLF has supported over the years around homelessness and housing support, TWK reached out and expressed a willingness to share their story to raise awareness to the increase in homelessness in Hamilton and to share what they are doing to not only alleviate it but to show what is possible for a future state where the street whanau are treated with dignity, respect, care and support they deserve.
The story had to film over one and half days due to the many people involved, depth of the kaupapa and the incredibly busy and responsive nature of the mahi at Te Whare Korowai in responding to the street community it serves. The build up to this story was beautifully organic and tied into the ongoing advocacy work LoLF through deep and trusted relationships and collaboration between leaders in the community and their respective kaupapa. There are so many people doing great things within services and community and it is the special collaborations between these groups who all come together with their own unique strengths to create a powerful and united voice to challenge inequities and roadmap ways to positive alternatives to big societal challenges. At LoLF we live and breathe this kind of organic and open collaboration as we know that it is always through collective action that anything good will ever happen. Te Whare Korowai is a great example of this and under the amazing leadership of Joanne Turner, Kaiwhakahaere of TWK, she has been able to provide deeply transformational support to our most vulnerable people.
This story will be in edit shortly and will be released toward the end of November. With over 11 people sharing their korero with us on this story, it is surely going to provide a great advocacy piece for further support for the kaupapa and help it to grow and develop in the ways it knows best to care for its people.
What’s next for LoLF?
With time running out towards the end of the year, we are pushing hard to get one more story in. We are in conversations with a few awesome people and kaupapa and if we can line one up in time we absolutely will do.
