E Oho – The Awakening

Enabling young people's voice to council

The young people on E Oho receive direct mentoring through weekly meetings with their project mentor and monthly training workshops with relevant experts, as well as attending six training weekends throughout the year.

On 8 April 2009, 18 people from the E Oho groups participated in a submission writing workshop facilitated by Rotorua District Council Youth Projects Officer Jill Morrison. The young people created 11 submissions to the council.

Submissions included recommending that council fix up parks and reserves and get sport and recreation organisations to provide activities, coaching or mentors to encourage sport and usage of the parks.

Teiwai MacPherson, Moana Kingi, Amiria Petipeti Whareaorere, Saul Herbert, Tuau Takao and Hori Thompson presented oral submissions to the Rotorua District Council and were interviewed by Ministry of Youth Development staff Blair Gilbert and Kevin Austin, with support from Jill Morrison and Tireni Ratema, Youth Development worker for E Oho.

We asked them about their experience.

What happened to their submission?

As a result of the submissions they made to the Rotorua District Council requesting the development of youth-friendly spaces, the council has allocated $600,000 to their ideas.

Hon Paula Bennett, Minister of Youth Affairs, wrote a letter to the young people of E Oho and congratulated them on their achievement.

The Ministry of Youth Development and Rotorua District Council are very proud of their achievement and congratulate them.

What was the feedback you got from the councillors?

• They encouraged us to do it next year and said that young people can change things - they just need to stand up and say it.
• One councillor said that, in all his years as a councillor, he has not heard this type of youth voice presenting plans to the council.

What was the experience like?

• Nerve-racking.
• We were shaking.
• Nervous.
• Trying to think what we would do and say.
• It was really formal - around a big table and microphones.
• They were asking "mean as" brainy questions.
• If we stopped, they encouraged us - they said there are no right or wrong answers.
• We all sat together and that helped because we had to talk into a microphone.
• We said what we wanted - more things for young people to do, so they don't hang around and drink and get into trouble. It would be good to have more basketball, skate parks, rubbish bins, public toilets and dog control.

What was it like talking to the councillors?

• The council was happy to hear what we really thought. One councillor said she read our submission because she was interested in young people's views.
• They asked us questions like: "Why do you think youth drink, do drugs, tag and join gangs?"

What advice would you give to other young people?

• Don't be scared.
• Be yourself.
• Be honest - tell it like it is.
• We did it for our community - trying to get something for our community - to change the drinking and drugs that youth do.
• The E Oho project helped us do it. We would not have ever done it otherwise.

Having been through this experience, would you present a submission to the council again?

• We would totally do it again.
• Next time we would be more prepared.
• Think about what questions they might ask us.
• We would explain "why" more - this was a question they asked a lot.