Ep 12 The Nest

Tatata and Rachel discuss the vision and purpose of Belle Bird and The Nest, a community hub in Rotorua. They emphasize the importance of strengthening the social and community sector and supporting the workforce that serves the community. They aim to create a positive and vibrant space where everyone feels supported and comfortable. The Nest is not just an office for Belle Bird, but a shared space for the community to access resources and support. They discuss the name "The Nest" and its association with kōhanga (nest) and kōhanga reo (child care). Kia Ora and welcome to another episode of Belle Bird's podcast, The Social Work Squawk. So today I am joined by the wonderful Tatata and we are going to be talking a little bit around The Nest which is opening soon and is a community hub for Rotorua, strengthening the social and community sector and Tatata has been instrumental in bringing The Nest to life and how it works and so I thought it'd be great to have a conversation around what's the vision, what are the spaces like, what does it look like, how do people gonna feel when they come in and use the space and particularly we're going to talk a little bit about the names of the spaces and what they represent and what that means for us in terms of how they're going to be used by the community, hopefully across Rotorua. So welcome to Tatata. Kia Ora Rachel, thanks for having me here, really appreciate the time. I guess I'll just start off with what is our vision here in Belle Bird. By the way thank you for that wonderful introduction, don't think it was that necessary but I'm just glad to be part of something new, something very innovative but also something that we know is well needed in our community here. So for me our vision here at Belle Bird is about having better connections, bringing people together to allow them to be able to share, to learn and to grow in those spaces, in the spaces of social work and that. So I think that's something that's been very epicent in our community and I've recognised that on a personal level having worked in I guess the sector for around 20 years and oh my gosh it's gonna show my age. I know we're so old. But I guess with that though comes lots of opportunities when you've been around a community in this space and line of work that you really need to identify some really important gaps that are missing and the vision of Belle Bird is definitely a space or a place that's sort of being created to bridge a huge gap, especially amongst our organisations and our community. Yeah absolutely, so it is about how do we strengthen that and you know you used the word social work before and I guess our predominant focus is around social services and we talk about the social sector, the community sector. So when we're talking social work there's the profession that that we uphold within that but there's also the term used rather loosely around actually it's how do we work with people, how do we help people, enable people, how do we provide services that are actually going to get good outcomes for our whanau, for the community to be in living their lives in the best way possible right. So our role as we see it within Belle Bird is how can we strengthen that delivery, what do we need, what's the gaps and yeah you and I have both been around the block a wee while and so this was something that we recognised was something that we could contribute to and we're not saying that we're the answer to everything but we feel we have something to add and we want to be of value in this space. Yeah absolutely and I think one thing that's not neglected but I guess it's been sort of forgotten and it's a point that doesn't really get talked about much is we know how community is very very taumaha, a lot of the I guess social issues that our community face and when we have staff and kaimahi that are working in those spaces and we really need to start focusing also on that workforce and I think it's really really important because if we're working and with communities that are suffering and you know very vulnerable to a lot of the social issues that are present, that is definitely going to have an effect on on our workforce that's actually working in and what I love about Belle Bird is this approach of actually really trying to support and put in my words I'll say a pātu watawata which is a fortified pā to help keep their workforce safe, protected and supported so that they can be the best kaumahi in their work. So that way if they're getting supported in a way that they need to be is we're going to get the better outcomes for the community. Absolutely and that's that kind of tiered approach that you know we want the community to be well so we know that the workforce has to be well to be able to deliver that so organisations have to be healthy spaces that our kaimahi can come from can return back to to continue to fill their cups so organisations have to be healthy and and vibrant and on task and focused and you know living to their values and all those things and within that as well we need actually a community at the other end of it which is connected and supported and actually working towards the same outcomes and has got that vision for what Rotorua as a whole should be like so it's that kind of I guess it's a bit of a cycle but it is how do we actually enable our workforce to do a good job. We support our workforce but we need organisations to step up and create healthy environments for them to be able to work from too. Yep absolutely and when we talk about our community and the needs of the community is we tend to forget that we are actually part of the community as staff and workers that work in service to the community we are actually part of it so when we talk about community we shouldn't separate the people that we work with to the staff so when we're working in a space of trying to build wellness with our community it's important that we actually develop that and build that amongst ourselves as staff and people that are working in the field for community I believe that that is something that's sort of almost like a forgotten thing as we tend to put all our efforts all our resource and that into the community that we work with and and that's great don't get me wrong as they need that but I feel in a way we need to actually have a strong focus also on the workforce that's actually supporting and are part of that community as well. Well that's right we create this magical line somewhere between in my very Pakeha language you know our service users and our service providers but actually we're just people we're people living our day-to-day life we've got children going to school we're doing jobs we're shopping at the same shops we're living on the same streets we're next-door neighbors and all the rest of it and so when we think about community as a whole how do we connect our community how do we support each other and work together that's everybody that's not just those people our service users or whatever you know like we differentiate we create these magical separations and actually for what we've seen or certainly I've seen in the last few years with COVID is that there can be a very very fine line sometimes between the people who are receiving support from services and those delivering it because actually everybody's struggling everybody is having a hard time everybody is trying to make their way as best as they can and we could all do with some support and so how do we layer that support so that actually everybody's able to look after each other in a healthy way and I think what we hope to achieve here in Bell Bird is to start creating that I guess you asked at the start around you know what is our vision for Bell Bird and you know what sort of things could people expect when they come here one of the things we want to change is that it doesn't feel like a workspace it actually feels like a place where it's well it's thriving has a good vibe you feel really comfortable in the space and that's what our families need so we're really trying to emulate the environments that we want the community to have so it's important for us if we're going to get outcomes you know good positive outcomes in the community is we need to emulate that internally here what people could expect when they come to Bell Bird is a really positive vibrant a space where you can enjoy doing what you're doing I'm not saying that people don't enjoy it but we want to start developing I guess shifting some of the mindsets that workers work and it's not meant to be fun and enough is you can have a lot of fun but it does come down to how we create that which I think Bell Bird is gonna take a huge step towards it and the nest I guess is a critical part of that vision because you know we've called it a nest it's a community hub it's a space where Bell Bird resides but it's not our space this is not the Bell Bird office we just happen to be one component of the space and that actually the space is about the people that can come here that can feel supported that can rest can get resources that can utilize the space whatever it might be that we share space we share resources that it doesn't belong to us I guess and so you've got a lovely way of talking about that in terms of the kaura mawho and so I'll let you do a much better job than I'm doing and explain that. Yeah okay so when we talk about the nest I guess a concept we had to like we knew what the vision was for Bell Bird and that came on the back of experience and what we'd identified and the need for it was to actually bring that to life in a physical way and the nest obviously Bell Bird was that was the product of this innovation and to start putting some real thought and meaningful thought into what does it mean physically here which is where the nests come in and I guess I've been lucky enough to sort of have a bit of input into that and I have a strong passion for mātauranga Māori te ao Māori concepts and that so when I was asked to start putting my thoughts around the nest and what they could look like the name came up around because nest if we look at kūpū Māori translates to kōhanga and however when we looked at when I looked at the word kōhanga was like everybody you know straightaway defaults to kōhanga as being a child care place yeah and kōhanga reo and that's exactly what it is it's a nest for the reo to grow for our young children however when you the name I guess is has a strong association now with child care sort of space so we looked at the name and have used the name Te Whare Ōhanga that literally is the same thing except we're not using kōhanga we're using ōhanga which means the same thing so it has no associations a child care facility in there and then it's it's more original to and appropriate to the nesting so the name that come out of it was Te Whare Ōhanga now when you get the opportunity to come as you will see that the concept has been built around a nest but it's not a nest specific to one bird and Rach you talked about it beautifully around connectedness in the community as we need to be connected more and that's what I love about our Māori concepts when we're talking about I guess our manu and we're talking about the nest as they were so connected in a lot of ways which really helped to bring this place in line with it so we've gone through we've named a number of the rooms after different manu very intentful very purposeful you want me to go through each of those rooms? Well yes and I think one of the things you talked about to begin with is obviously the korimako which is the bellbird that's the main office space that we sit in that the bellbird calls to other birds right? The korimako is a very it's a unique manu and very well known actually throughout the world not just here in New Zealand and to many cultures and that is because the korimako is known to be a messenger I guess cultures across the world believe that the korimako is a messenger to provide messages both physically and spiritually so it becomes a messenger between two worlds the physical world and the spiritual world so for us it was important the korimako is pivotal and central to Te Whare Ohanga and why that is because korimako is going to be the messenger to all these other different manu that are going to communicate connect with these other birds the concept of the korimako being the central part of Te Whare Ohanga was the oro or the sound of the korimako will carry throughout the building and to each room the message of the korimako of the sounds of the oro will reach the manu so it's more or less saying this is what we need this is who we are heed my call and that's what the korimako is doing in the central part of Te Whare Ohanga and that's exactly right and I guess it's calling on other manu to also to be part of the nest to participate because the other thing around Belbird is that we're not saying that we are the answer to everything but we might know somebody who is right we might be able to part of connected communities it's about joining the dot making sure that this person knows this person how do we get people together how do we get the right solution that suits people's needs we might not be the right solution but we might know the person who is so it's how do we kind of put that call out to bring people together in that way and come and share the nest absolutely and again it's that in the concept of it all is this what we're trying to emulate so the korimako is present it's here and this is what it's saying and this is the messages that it's it's putting out there it's more or less saying that things shouldn't be done in isolation they shouldn't be done individually in a silo it's where to be better connected I guess we're looking for those positive outcomes for community the best way is to actually do it collectively and the concept of the korimako calling to these other manu it emulates that. That's the hub of the whare and so if we take a bit of a tour around the building as we go shall we start in Kereru? So when we went through and we we sort of had to look at the rooms and spaces and what what was the purpose of them everything needed and te ao Maori everything was purposeful nothing was done willy-nilly it wasn't just a great idea it had intent and meaning and it had a lot of rangahau to put into it so with the kereru room why kereru was chosen was because the kereru is a manu that was very was treated like a taonga to Maori for a number of reasons not just because it was nice to eat but when we look at that whole concept even kai okay is what are we putting into our bodies okay what are we feeding ourselves the kereru room is a space where we want to actually grow leadership we want to share knowledge we want to learn it's a space of growth development and learning so when we take that concept of the kereru taonga to Maori yes one it was a kai for them but in that concept it was a I guess it was a kai o te rangatira so it was the kai of the chiefs the kereru was also a chiefly bird so the feathers from the kereru after they devoured the bird the feathers were used for korowai and they were used for our chiefs our rangatira so shows like I guess how important the kereru was is for Maori and it still is today a very very majestic manu so the kereru room for us is training space it's a larger room to be able to bring people together but exactly what you talked about it so it's about growth it's about development it's about innovation and new ideas and how do we kind of move forward and do things in a more purposeful way in a kind of maybe in a more creative way but it's the space of growth that's our vision for it yes absolutely can't wait till you see it yeah absolutely so what's the next room you'd like to talk about we'll come into this room we're currently sitting in this room which we've named the kotari the kotari room and the kotari is the kingfisher bird the kotari got its name from Maori from the pātū watawata or the fortified pā and there's a part in the fortification and it's sort of like a watchtower in that pātū watawata and that part was called the kotari why the bird got its name from Maori as kotari is because it's been known to be a watchful century and if you observe the kotari it tends to sit and observe it's very curious and but it's got a really watchful eye it watches over things which is why Maori called that bird the kotari. The kotari is lots of significant through a lot of our pūrākau and our stories with the kotari bird and I'll just touch on one that was really really meaningful there was a a waiata that was composed by Hirini Melbourne and it was a children's song and it was e re re kotare ki runga pūwharawhara rū rū pareru ke mate i te ua and that song well actually the translation of that was that during the Matariki celebration there was a tōhunga that was doing the karakia and Hirini Melbourne was present and he saw a kotari bird sitting on a pūwharawhara or an azalea and it was sitting there and it was observing so it was watching over what's happening but what he noticed was that the kotari it was covered in dew so it had a lot of water on its back because the sun hadn't risen yet and that part e re re kotari is talking about the kotari bird to take flight rū rū pareru is meaning to shake its the dew from its back so that it can go forth and fly and he took that and he used it in a children's waiata very very I remember singing it when I was a child but never knew the meaning or the background of it so the kotari is really significant in a lot of our pūrākau stories waiata and why we've adapted that into this room is because we wanted to create a real safe sort of a space and environment where you feel like you've got support somebody's you feel quite protected and you're not feeling vulnerable and it's a really sort of a safe environment where you might be able to come in here and you know just I guess if you need things off your back you need a that sort of thing release a bit of some of your burdens or things like that this is the space to do that in the kotari room so this is a room that might be used as a consultation space it might be a supervision space it's kind of got comfortable chairs it's that sort of warm feeling safe feeling like you talked about it is a space where yeah you can shake the dew off your back and leave here and take flight right and fly away and go and achieve what you want to do for the day because you've been able to leave all of that behind in this space yeah I mean what an awesome connection absolutely and in the kotari I'll just add one more thing is that it's it's symbolic of freedom so it it's it's a manu that reflects freedom and it loves the joy of feeling free which is you know what this space is all about we actually free from some of the hardships or things that you might be experiencing where you can actually come in here and like you say the shake they do from from your back such an important process when we talk about the wellness of our workforce things like supervision yeah just that space to debrief to process what you're experiencing you know I used to talk about it in my work around the shaggy dog you know that you were these were these big fluffy dogs and we go into people's homes or in these workspaces and you can't help but pick up mud right like all that energy all that kind of trauma complexity comes into our wider and like it sticks to our fur in the shaggy dog and then we need a space to be able to shake it off and leave it behind otherwise we're dragging it into the next space and into the next space and this is a room exactly I love that so the kotari can shake off the dew from its back release the wings take flight we must move on to the koi koi up so the room that sort of next to I guess we were currently sitting in a kotari room is a room we've named the koi koi a room and that is the long-tailed kuku and again there's you know many stories and significance for the koi koi a in a lot of our Maori kōrero and history but why this room was important and very fitting I guess appropriate to be called the koi koi a room was because the koi koi a had a real unique attribute I should say and that was that the koi koi a would go and sit on the nests of other birds when the mother bird was a present so it was there and it was there keeping I guess the eggs warm just so that they weren't unattended to it's a really important concept I remembered attending a wānanga with Te Rangi Mataamua and he referred to the koi koi a as being a nice way of saying an orphan child is likened to the koi koi a and he had a saying that says he tamaiti ngā te koi koi a which is a better way of saying oh ko ahau he tamaiti ngā te koi koi a is that I am a child that's been whāngai rather than saying I am a child with no parents so it was a very nice poetic way of saying that but in relation to the room the koi koi a had that ability to look after everybody it was like a motherly bird that used to actually try and meet the needs of all of the people or the other birds that needed it so in relation to that room it is a great space for people coming together where the koi koi a can keep them warm can keep them on path on track so that you think about the concept of the eggs that are not attended to you know they're going to have their constant nurturing so it's an ideal space for collective gatherings where people can actually come together they can meet whanaungatanga and I think in conversations that we've had around the koi koi a you've talked about that you know it's that motherly bird that looks after people even if those people don't strictly belong to them you know that it's like they go to different nests not necessarily just the nests of koi koi a but just look after whoever needs looking after and that's a lovely analogy to bring people together so our meeting room boardroom type space whatever it is that brings those people together whatever their kaupapa is to be in that space but to keep people on track to join people together and to help them on their journey to achieve whatever it is they're wanting to achieve and hatch some good ideas and an important part to koi koi a was its ability that had an ability to be able to sustain long flights so it could take a long journey so it took that into consideration and they looked at the room and the purpose of that room when we have some real you could say high level or some really deep and meaningful discussions and sometimes these can take a lot of time and a lot of hard work so this was factored into one of the attributes of the koi koi a is that when people are coming together in that too it's we need to be prepared to actually take this long flight to ensure that we get this really good outcome for the purpose of why we're here so there was another reason why the room was called the koi koi a. And so that brings us almost to our last room, kariarea. Kariarea, if you don't know what a kariarea is it's the New Zealand hawk and the kariarea, I guess all our birds are unique but why it was important this space and put the name kariarea to it was we needed to have a space in the nest where you could actually just get on with things too so it's a space where you could just, and the kariarea was one of those it'll sit on a level and an advantage point and it'll just swoop and it was its speed and its ability to be able to just quickly either attack and lift twice its weight and we took that concept of the kariarea is that sometimes we just need a space where we can just get on with the work where it's uninterrupted we need to be focused and we can feel uninterrupted and we could just get things done swiftly and in the work and I mentioned it earlier was that it can get very taumaha and it can get really really heavy. We need to be able to have that space where not just only where we be able to sort of lift some of the burdens or taki and that but we still need to do some good solid work. We need to have a space where we can actually get that done, it's like knuckle down and just get into it. So that room there was given that name so that we could create that sort of environment for people if they want to use that room as they can they can book that room, they can come in and use it and where it'll be uninterrupted, a private space, office and if they want in I guess a different space we want to be able to still provide a space where you can actually just stay focused and without being interrupted and just clear And I also think about people who also work from home or work remotely, people who travel regionally, you know sometimes you actually need a space to come to where you can rest for a minute and just focus on your work because there are times when I'm working from home when I am really productive and then there are other times when I'm working from home and my laundry is done and my kitchen is really clean and it's really easy to procrastinate and actually and also it can be a little bit lonely, you know you don't necessarily talk to people from one day to the next so it's a space to be able to come and spend a little bit of time, get some work done but also be connected in that space, it's a shared space, there are other people around if you wanted to have a little bit of person contact, you know a bit of humanity as well. So anything to add, is that kind of anything else you'd like to talk about the NIST? Yeah I guess having the rooms, having names that are meaningful and purposeful and that align with what Bellbird is trying to achieve, you've got to be able to, and this is what Bellbird is going to do, is to really I guess create something new and different from other spaces, we don't want it to be just a space where it's just an office and a workspace, we want people to feel they can come here and just enjoy being here and a really cool place to hang out, but a productive hangout. Yeah, exactly and I think it comes back to that sense of connection as well because sometimes we need to just stop in and have a cup of tea and connect with people, sometimes it's about doing a little bit of work, being able to use the printer and the Wi-Fi, maybe take a book from our library, access a resource, get some ideas, just refresh, whatever it might be or use a room, have your meeting here, do some training here, book your supervision here, like it is a space that is not ours but belongs to everybody and we're in the process of developing a functionality for our members where they'll be able to literally just go on the website, book the space, get into the calendar, book it, easy as, and because it has to belong to the flock so to speak, I know the bird puns get a bit cheesy, but it's not Bellbird's office, we just happen to live here as well. This is the nest for all birds and we want people to feel like they have some ownership, have some connection to it, use it as they want to use it and that it does feel comfortable and warm and all that fluffy stuff, but you know, that it is a space where people want to be. Absolutely, really excited about it, excited to see people utilize it, come in, take the opportunity to be able to work differently, which is what Te Whare Ohanga is wanting to provide, is to be something different, but something where it's based upon me and it's something that's going to help. Absolutely, that's right, we're here to help. Awesome, so do come and visit us, we are at 1218 Haupapa Street, on the ground floor, pop in any time. Come in and just have a chat with us. Come in and have a coffee, and we're more than happy to sit down and have a chat to you about Bellbird and what we're about and who we are. Well thank you so much Te Teira, I really appreciate you speak so eloquently around the vision and as you say, it's really important that our names are purposeful, that actually things are representative, that actually things, this isn't just just a whimsical kind of thought, that actually this is deeply rooted in a real passion, a real value base for us and something that we feel that we wish to give to our community and a lot of heart in that and I really appreciate the way you're so good at being able to articulate that, so thank you so much. And thank you all for listening, we'd love for you to come and visit and if you've got any comments please do let us know. Have a wonderful day. Ka kite.