Abridged from an article originally published by the Unitec Media Team, June 2022
Bachelor of Architecture graduate and Ngā Wai A Te Tūī researcher Keisha Rawiri (Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Hāmoa) pictured on the left with her mother, has been awarded one of The KEECT Master’s Awards valued at $8000 to help fund her Master of Architecture (Professional) Project supporting the regeneration of the Tau Henare Marae in Te Taitokerau (Northland).
KEECT Awards Coordinator Katrina Ford says Keisha’s hard work and determination to succeed combined with dedication to her whānau and community epitomizes the values of the Trust. “What made her application special compared to the many other excellent applications is how her referees spoke about how Keisha supports her colleagues and fellow students, despite her many commitments. The application process for the Master’s Degree Awards is very competitive. This is the first time a student from Unitec has received one of our Master’s Awards, so we hope that Keisha’s success will encourage other Unitec students to apply.”
It is a significant milestone for Keisha, who took up her studies as a mature student to pursue her dream as a teenager of becoming an architect. She says that her interest sprang from a keen interest in art and having an analytical brain. “I figured architecture was a great way to put them together, but my high school didn’t have the resources or the programmes to support jumping into architecture at the time”.
After leaving school, she moved to Australia and ‘life happened’. She pursued a career in banking and finance for 8 years alongside having her family, before deciding it was time to finally follow her dream of becoming an architect.
“The KEECT were also part of my beginning architectural studies journey. In my first year, I applied to them for a scholarship to start my studies and was awarded a $2000 Tressa Thomas Retraining award, which assists mature women to retrain in a profession.”
“One of the big things for me was that I was born and raised Samoan. I grew up with a solo mother who returned to study as a mature student. My mother modelled age should never be an obstacle to further education. I also grew up surrounded by my nana and grandpa, who were fluent in Samoan and ensured that my Samoan identity was strong. Unfortunately, I didn’t have an established relationship with my father, who is Māori. Then I had this reconnection with my whakapapa on his side that sprang from an internship with Matakohe Architecture and Urbanism in Whangārei during the second year of my Bachelor’s Degree”
Keisha’s Master’s project represents an extremely significant journey of connection on both a professional and personal level.
“Through the internship journey, I visited my marae and participated in their Waimā Waita Waiora wānanga, staying two nights. That was about caring for our wai and protecting the life of tuna (eel), which has a significant role in our hapū narratives. Through that, I connected with my extended whānau on my father’s side and that’s where my journey started. ”
Through discussion with whānau, one of the aspirations that initiated the research project was to breathe life back into Ngā Tau e Toru, the original wharenui of Tau Henare marae built in 1893, before the larger Tau Henare whare tupuna was built in the mid-19th century.
For a long time, it housed the Kōhanga Reo, with koro and kuia sharing knowledge with mokopuna with te reo, but over the years natural wear and tear meant it became unsafe for whānau use. Eventually, it was disestablished as a functioning whare on the marae and now sits vacant and unutilised.
“As a research project, it is quite special because through the process of whakawhanaungatanga and as the researcher, because of my whakapapa connection, I share a strong relationship with the people and the place and further expresses the Kaupapa Māori lens the research project is adopting. For Māori, whakapapa, history, and cultural narratives are passed down and Ngā Tau e Toru is part of the marae history, a precious taonga. It is about the narrative”
Keisha hopes that her project will provide the vision and scope for the original wharenui to be brought back to life, bringing the history of Nga Tau e Toru forward rather than sitting unutilised.
“Tau Henare marae whānau will receive the final report as a koha – as a thank you for their time and contribution. The hope is that they can use it as a design advocacy report to support the marae’s current and future aspirations. It will include a visual representation of Ngā Tau e Toru’s regeneration where hapū were in the driver’s seat, leading the visioning, aspirations, and design development.”
Janet is a successful businesswoman, author, public speaker and Trusts Specialist who has a passion for sharing her knowledge, based on the principle of ‘paying it forward’. This comes from a place of knowing what it feels like to be given a helping hand when all other doors have closed which is why she has decided to leave a generous gift in her Will to The Kate Edger Educational Charitable Trust (KEECT). At face value, she has it all, but what is most interesting is the lengths she went to achieve her goals, the sacrifices she made, and the obstacles she overcame on the way. 
Several years later Janet graduated with her Law degree. By now she had been working with a prominent accounting firm for 3 years where she had been made a partner in the first 9 months. During her 16 years there, she ‘shook the tiger by the tail’ and became an expert on Trusts, alongside publishing 3 books; 
Carol
Academic Dress Hire is renowned as New Zealand’s premier regalia hire and sale business, and the preferred and official supplier to schools and universities in the Auckland and Northland region. 
When Lina applied to receive this award, it was her compassion and determination that made her a stand-out candidate. Lina is a busy mother to 4 young children (including twins) and is being supported by her husband to complete her degree, which means long hours of work for her husband and many sacrifices for the family along the way. One of the biggest financial impacts of receiving the award was being able to afford to buy a laptop for her studies – for almost 2 years, she had completed (and passed) all her assignments on her phone.
In her own words, Lina vowed that “I would try to the best of my capabilities to become a midwife, no matter how long it took, because I did not want another woman to feel just like I had felt. Women need support and encouragement in the scary, yet magical time that is pregnancy, not judgement……this is was something I would carry with me all the way through my goal of trying to obtain my degree, something that would drive my determination.”
Lina plans to work predominantly in Pacific Island communities solely due to the fact that “we as Pacific Islanders are the most vulnerable for many complications in pregnancy, labour and birth, as well as the post-partum stages. I feel that I am able to educate, connect and form a better partnership with Pacifika women as I am able to relate to their way of thinking both culturally and professionally”.
Kate Milligan Evans (née Edger, 6 January 1857 – 6 May 1935) 
When she later applied for permission to sit for a university scholarship, she applied as K.Edger, omitting her gender, and based on her excellent grades, the application was successful. To study as the only woman in a class of young men must have required courage and perseverance; although she said in later years that her classmates treated her with courtesy, she was required to enter the class ‘with downcast eyes.’
Edger’s first teaching position was at Christchurch Girls’ High School. She then became the founding principal of Nelson College for Girls in 1883 aged only 26 years. In addition to being the ‘Lady Principal’, she taught English grammar, composition and literature, physical science, Latin, mathematics, singing and geography. She had a reputation for being a committed and compassionate teacher, who was as concerned about building the character of her students as she was about their academic achievements.
The WCTU became a major part of Kate’s life and she served as an assistant Corresponding Secretary, White Ribbon Associate Editor, Recording Secretary, National Superintendent of Scientific Temperance Teaching, and National Superintendent for Peace and Arbitration. She was also a founding member of Wellington’s Society for the Protection of Women and Children, a Dominion Secretary of the League of Nations Union of New Zealand, and a member of the National Council of Women.
Her legacy lies in the example she set for several generations of young women; that their minds were important to making a difference to the world and that female participation in public life was critical to a civilized society. Her name lives on through two important educational institutions; the Kate Edger Information Commons at the University of Auckland, and through this Trust.
Emeritus Professor Dame Charmian O’Connor
Ru Wilkie 
Dr. Jane Horan 
Ngaire Miller was a passionate nurse, midwife, academic and nursing pioneer. During her career, she was instrumental in transforming nursing education and practice. In particular, was her work around supporting the move of ‘on the job’ hospital based nursing training to a tertiary based education model. This was a key milestone in the development of nursing as a profession and there are now 17 Nursing Schools in New Zealand where studies comprise of 50% theory and 50% practical experience (hospital placements).
Ngaire was determined in her approach to life. She remained active and interested in nursing till her death at 84.
