During Te Wiki o te Reo Māori last week, kaimahi at Te Puna Mātauranga were in danger of being ambushed by senior administrator Annette Tunoho, who would stick a camera in their face and issue a one-word challenge: ‘pepeha’.

The Pepeha Challenge was part of a Te Mangai Paho Te Wiki o te Reo Māori initiative for people to share their pepeha and Annette took it upon herself to bring the challenge to Te Puna Mātauranga kaimahi.

She says she was surprised by the range of reactions she got.

“It was great. We had the whole range of responses from people hiding under their desks or running away when they saw me coming to others who recited their pepeha confidently. Some are just learning their pepeha so it was a good opportunity for them to practice as well,” she says.

“What I found most interesting was learning about my fellow kaimahi, who they are and where they’re from. It’s been awesome.”

Annette has uploaded her pepeha challenge videos – including bloopers - to Facebook and says she might keep stalking the remaining Te Puna Mātauranga  kaimahi who she hasn’t caught yet.

“Some of them have been working on their pepeha and are waiting for me to turn up but it’s no fun when they’re expecting it.”

Annette says the possibility of getting challenged at any moment has encouraged some kaimahi to brush up on their pepeha “so that’s got to be a good thing”.

Watch the Te Puna Mātauranga Pepeha Challenge on Facebook here:

https://www.facebook.com/annette.tunoho/videos/10217855824211068/