Manaia Barns
MANAIA Barns’ life changed when he was washing the dishes one evening.
His mother told him that he should not do the chore because it earned him his allowance, but to do it in service of others.
He still has not figured out exactly what she meant, but by helping out around the community he comes a little closer to understanding each time.
The 17yearold head boy has spent his high school years reconnecting with his culture and learning what it means to help others.
Although he was born in New Zealand, Manaia moved to Dubai at the age of 5 and became disconnected from his culture.
Dubai was a melting pot of backgrounds and it was great to be around such a diverse range of people but there were times it felt horrible not to be able to embrace his whakapapa.
He moved back to New Zealand about three years ago and to develop his understanding took Te Reo classes.
‘‘Culture is the way you navigate life and you can’t disconnect culture from the language.’’
By learning the language, joining the school kapa haka group and being selected for Te Pae Mahuri (Dunedin Maori Youth Council) Manaia found a part of himself that felt like it was missing.
Faith was as important to him as culture and he was able to show appreciation for it by competing in scripture events at the Bishop’s Shield competition. Last year he won one of the sections he competed in and came second in the other.
While Manaia put effort into searching for himself, he also dedicated time to helping others.
He has worked with disabled children in sport, made food for homeless people and acted as a camp councillor.
‘‘Doing a little can be doing a lot for somebody else.’’
While he loved to relax and play video games, he believed that time could be spent making someone else’s life better.
The video games would always be there when he was done.
‘‘I’m proud of the work that I’ve done.’’ He has a deep love for the environment and one of his proudest moments was in 2017 when he had the honour of presenting a project on mangrove biome ecosystems to Dr Jane Goodall, his role model, and was given a soft toy monkey for his work.