He onge te momo o Jason Tuhoe, tētahi rata kōrero Māori.

He oi,  e tino hiahia ana a Tākuta Tuhoe,            te kaiwhiwhi tuatahi i tēnei karahipi,                kia tokomaha ake tōna momo.                              

“He mea hira te whakatauira i te mana o te reo – koia anō rā ki te ao hauora,” hei tā Tākuta Tuhoe.

“He oranga tō te reo e kore e kitea e te ao māuru. Ka haere ngātahi ngā āhuatanga o te taha wairua, te taha hinengaro, te taha pāpori me te taha tinana.”

“Mā te reo e taea ai ngā taha katoa te mahi tahi, koinā he mea nui ki te whakatauira i te hiranga o te reo Māori ki ngā tākuta Māori.”

I riro i te tangata 31 ngā tau o Ngāti Maru, Ngāti Pūkenga me Ngā Puhi, nō Manaia, Hauraki, te karahipi AST $4000 hei tautoko i āna akoranga ki Te Wānanga o Aotearoa – ki Te Panekiretanga o Te Reo.

Ko ngā pūkenga me ngā tirohanga e whāngaihia ana ki a ia i Te Panekiretanga      me te Whare Tāhuhu Kōrero o Hauraki, he  mea taunaki i āna mahi whakarauora reo, tikanga hoki o Hauraki.

“Ko te manako ia kia whakaawe i te iwi ki te rangahau i ngā mahinga o mua, e whai hua ki te āpōpō.”

“Ko Te Panekiretanga o te reo, tētahi āhuatanga e taea ai tō tātou reo huahuatau,   reo rerehua, te whakarauora, te hahū ake kia pērā i te reo o mua.”

Hei tā Tākuta Tuhoe mō te wiki o te reo, i tīmata nō nahi nei, “he poto rawa te wiki o te reo Māori, me whakanui, me whakatairanga kē i te reo ia te rā.”

“Ki a au nei me whakanui i te reo Māori ia   wiki. Kua kiīa, he nui ngā reo e mate ana ia   tau, nō reira me aro tātou ki tēnei tūāhua, kia kaua e pā mai ki a tātou.”                                    

“Me ngana hoki tātou i a tātou e whai ana i te reo, kia noho mātāmua mai ai te kounga o te reo”

E ai ki a Tākuta Tuhoe, he mea nui te tika o te whakatauira ki te hunga taiohi i roto i ngā mahi whakarauora reo, tikanga hoki.

I tēnei wā he Tākuta Whānau Pouroki a   Tākuta Tuhoe, ā, kei tētahi whare hauora ki Papakura ia e whakangungu ana hei     whakaoti i āna mahi ako tākuta

Kua ono tau ia e mahi tākuta ana ki te  Hōhipera o Middlemore, ki ngā whare hauora Māori hoki puta noa i te rohe o Manukau.

He mātanga mō ngā rongoā hākinakina me  ngā whakamāuru mamae kakati. 

As a fluent te reo Māori speaker and a practising doctor, Jason Tuhoe is a rarity.

But the inaugural recipient of the Aotearoa Scholarship Trust’s Te Reo Rangatira - Māori Language Scholarship, Dr Tuhoe would like to see more people like him. 

“It is important to role model how important te reo Māori is - especially in the context of healthcare,” says Dr Tuhoe.

“Te reo Māori offers a perspective that cannot be defined by western medicine. It allows for the inclusion of the spiritual, mental and social aspects with the physical.” 

“Te reo Māori allows the symbiotic combination of these principles which is why it is important to model the necessity of te reo Māori with Māori doctors.”

The 31-year-old Ngāti Maru, Ngāti Pūkenga and Ngā Puhi descendant from Manaia in Hauraki was awarded the $4,000 AST scholarship this month to assist with his Te Wānanga o Aotearoa studies - Te Panekiretanga o Te Reo.

Skills and perspectives gained from                           Te Panekiretanga and Te Whare Tāhuhu Kōrero o Hauraki will assist him in reviving traditional       Hauraki language and customs.                                       

“I hope to inspire our people to research and identify examples crafted by our ancestors in order to make them applicable to our changing world today.”

“Te Panekiretanga is a platform that allows us to revitalise and shape our language and return it to how it once was . . .  a flourishing language full of beauty and metaphorical intricacies.”

Dr Tuhoe says Māori Language Week,                  which started yesterday, is not long enough          and the national promotion should be a daily celebration.

“I believe every week should be Māori Language Week. We are told that there are a number of languages that perish every year, and we need to be aware of this and careful it doesn’t                     happen to us.” 

“We also need to ensure that quality is at the forefront of our te reo Māori pursuit.”                                             

Dr Tuhoe says role modelling for the younger generations is crucial in the pursuit of language and customs revitalisation.

A GP registrar, Dr Tuhoe is working towards his Fellowship in a clinic at Papakura and will soon complete his GP training.                                                

He has practised medicine for the past six years at Middlemore Hospital and Māori GP clinics throughout the Counties Manukau region. 

He specialises in Palliative Care and Sports Medicine.