Poureo Matua Paraone Gloyne and kaiwhakamāori Hariru Roa are sharing the  Reo Ora Strategy with kaimahi in the rohe .

They have received excellent feedback about the Reo Ora launch last month where 1500 kaimahi throughout the motu were sent a rākau and a personal video message encouraging them to kōrero Māori. They have presented the strategy at Murihiku, Ōtautahi, Tainui and Waiariki.

This week they are heading to Te Taitokerau and Whirikoka.

Further Reo Ora initiatives will be rolled out as Māori Language Week from July 27 to August 2 draws nearer.

“We don’t want to give away too much but it will involve technology. Watch this space,” says Paraone.

Paraone says his fellow office colleagues may be only “half-pai or perhaps even quarter-pai” speakers of te reo but the most important thing is they are giving it a go.”

“We must speak our language and encourage our friends and our colleagues to use what reo they have.”

“Whakamahia te reo kia ora ai te reo. A living language is a spoken language,” he says.

Paraone hopes other kaimahi catch the Quality and Audit wahanga bug of inspiration and put in place team, office or even site initiatives to learn te reo Māori in a fun way.

He encourages kaimahi to “whakamana, whakamahi and whakaako” Reo Ora and support the strategy’s aim to see at least half of all TWoA kaimahi becoming proficient in the Māori language by the year 2030.

*Whakamana – to recognise the mana of te reo Māori and promote the use of te reo throughout Te Wānanga o Aotearoa.

*Whakamahi - to integrate the practice of te reo Māori as normal practice in our daily lives, both at work and at home.

*Whakaako – to provide opportunities to learn te reo Māori to increase the proportion of kaimahi at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa who are fluent.

Meanwhile Reo Ora fever is on the rise at Te Puna Mātauranga.

Symptoms include infectious laughter and Māori vocabulary growth spurts.

Kaiarataki Tātari Kounga -  Quality and Audit lead Rodney Young and his team has a te reo

Māori-only hour every Friday and it is “sick” – which is “youngie speak” says Rodney for “really cool” or “ka mau kē te wehi”.