New chair for Ririki endorsed by the late Dr Hone Kaa

MEDIA RELEASE

15 May 2012

New chair for Ririki endorsed by the late Dr Hone Kaa

Maori educationalist Dr Kuni Jenkins, has been appointed as the new Chair of Ririki, the national organisation that advocates for Maori children and the elimination of Maori child abuse. Dr Jenkins takes over from founding Chair, and renowned child advocate, the Venerable Dr Hone Kaa who died in March this year.

Executive Director for Ririki, Anton Blank, says it was for her vast experience and devotion to Maori education that Dr Kaa recommended Professor Kuni as his successor - an appointment that was ratified by the Ririki Board last month.

“Because of her experience in Maori education Dr Jenkins is perfectly placed to lead our Board,” Anton Blank said. “Dr Jenkins understands the importance of developing kaupapa Maori solutions to Maori child maltreatment which is at the core of our work.”

Dr Jenkins is a professor at Te Whare Wananga o Awanuiarangi. She has published internationally in the field of cross-cultural and historical education and has devoted her life to furthering education, particularly for Maori women.

“Kuni has been an ardent supporter of Ririki. She co-authored our literature review of pre-colonial Maori parenting practices, and has been a constant guide and mentor to the Ririki team, so she understands where we’ve been and how best to take forward the legacy that Dr Kaa has left us.” Anton Blank said.

Speaking of her appointment, Dr Jenkins acknowledged the loss of Dr Kaa.

“It’s not going to be a simple task, because Hone was such a great innovator and he was fearless. He had such a huge network throughout the country in Maori communities and he knew the reality of whanau. They trusted him and he could gain access where others couldn’t or wouldn’t dare to go, offering some quite meaningful and transformational advice to whanau who were grieving or in denial.

“He realised that while we might be in a modern society, we were treating our children with an unparalleled violence - such as the case with Nia Glassie [which spurred the beginning of Ririki] - a violence that he categorically believed was not tolerated in traditional society based on his own upbringing. And so he’s actually a huge loss for this country, when there is such a need for people who can represent traditional Maori society with the accuracy that Hone was able to do.”

This week, Ririki will launch its website www.ririki.org.nz and there are plans for a parenting television series, new resources and social media initiatives to keep whanau, parents and stakeholders up-to-date and involved in the project. Dr Jenkins says that while this is a new phase in the development of Ririki, the organisation will continue to carry on where Dr Kaa left off.

“There’s a determination to keep his work alive. And that’s my challenge, to follow the aims and objectives of the intervention programme developed under his direction. I certainly am offering myself to work towards that and to continue to work with the many groups to which Hone belonged and who looked to him for guidance and for information. If their doors are still open, we will continue to work alongside them and invite them to add to the resources and the skills available to ensure the protection of young children.

“Hone left a platform for us and has left so many clues and ideas about what’s necessary - where desperate intervention into the violence that exists in Maori homes and where protection of a young’s child’s right to a safe and caring childhood is required.”

Moe mai ra e te tuakana.

ENDS

© Scoop Media