Haumaru Hard Ōtara Competition For Rangatahi

A competition is being launched on Tuesday 16 November at midday for a creative interpretation of the connection between tikanga and vaccination by rangatahi living in Ōtara.

The competition is open to people aged 12 to 23 who live within the Otara subdivision of the Ōtara-Papatoetoe Local Board, or where ‘Otara’ is their official NZ Post address.

Their interpretations can be a slogan, an image, or a jingle. For example: ‘I choose to Vax for my whanau’ links vaccination to the concept of aroha.

The deadline for submitting images is Sunday November 28, to the competition website - www.haumaruotara.maori.nz.

The competition is being run by Te Tai-Awa o te Ora (Tai-Awa), a kaupapa Māori social services provider based in Ōtara.

Tai-Awa spokeswoman Tiere Riki says they want "to encourage more people to think about vaccination from a Maori viewpoint, since most of the information available in the media is from a Pākehā point of view."

The competition carries prizes in three age groups (12-15, 16-19 and 20-23) for each of the three categories (slogan, image and jingle). Ms Riki says that every entry will be exhibited "because they all will contribute to a better understanding of the importance of vaccination".

Because of lockdown uncertainty, this competition will be carried out online, and all the entries will be publicly available on the website after judging.

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