Manawatū teen Tui-Aroha Fransen knows celebrating individual cultural identity is still a crucial part of working together. The 17-year-old Manukura student was the winner of Manawatū’s race unity speech competition at the Palmerston North City Library last week and has qualified for the national final later in the year. This year’s theme was “Kia kotahi te hoe – paddle as one” and Fransen said an important message in her speech was “paddling as one with all our differences intact”. “To paddle as one is to work as one with acceptance. She said it was the first time in three years she had done a speech in front of people.

Source: Stuff April 22, 2021 04:52 UTC