This week we hear from Sarah Corson, co-founder of The Painga Project. This enterprise was set up to improve the health and wellbeing of students, families and communities in low decile South Auckland primary and intermediate schools. We started by asking Sarah where the idea for the project came from:
Q๐. ๐๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฌ๐๐ญ ๐ฎ๐ฉ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฅ๐๐๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฃ๐๐๐ญ ?
My realisation that the demands, pressures and educational inequalities that some South Auckland primary school principals battled daily were overwhelming. Many existing school programmes and interventions also appeared outdated, short term and seemed to be designed to support the NGO/charityโs needs rather than the child, their school and community.
So we simply began by asking Principals โwhat do you need?โ
Q๐. ๐๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฃ๐๐๐ญ ๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐๐ญ๐๐ฌ ๐ข๐ง ๐ ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฌ๐จ๐๐ข๐๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฆ๐ฉ๐๐๐ญ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ข๐ง๐๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ฌ๐๐๐ญ. ๐๐จ๐ฐ ๐๐จ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ฉ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฌ๐ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐๐ข๐ง๐๐ง๐๐ข๐๐ฅ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ข๐ง๐๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ?
Carefully.
As a working charity making school lunches was our financial bread and butter in our early day and it remains important to us now.
We are also powered by our amazing volunteers who provide expertise to pilot our innovations. This reduces a lot of cost while we figure out what works.
Q๐. ๐๐ง๐ง๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐๐ง๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ฅ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฃ๐๐๐ญโ๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ, ๐ฅ๐ข๐ค๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฆ๐จ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐๐ฎ๐ฌ. ๐๐ก๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฌ๐ ๐ข๐ง๐ง๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ ๐ข๐๐๐๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ?
Firstly from experiencing the need and then from frustration as we better understand the existing models. Seeing systemic failure is very motivating.
For us, innovation sits at the heart of childrenโs educational health. So we listen, learn and understand so that our innovations are targeted, relevant, and outcome rather than output focused.
Q๐. ๐๐๐ซ๐ญ๐ง๐๐ซ๐ฌ๐ก๐ข๐ฉ๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐๐๐ฅ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐๐๐๐ฌ๐ฌ. ๐๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ญ๐๐ ๐ข๐๐ฌ ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ฒ-๐ข๐ง ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ค๐๐ก๐จ๐ฅ๐๐๐ซ๐ฌ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ง๐๐๐ซ๐ฌ?
We pilot our ideas to ensure that they are sustainable and enduring before we look for funding as we have an aversion to โwaste workโ (thank you Manaaki Tairฤwhiti).
As it is important to us that our mahi is transparent, relevant and impactful long term we share these challenges, failures and successes with our stakeholders and funders.
Q๐. ๐ ๐จ๐ซ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ฆ๐๐ง ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ฉ๐ซ๐๐ง๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐ฌ ๐๐ข๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ซ๐๐๐ญ๐ ๐ฌ๐ฒ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ ๐๐ก๐๐ง๐ ๐, ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐จ๐ง๐ฌ ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฅ๐๐๐ซ๐ง๐๐ ๐๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ง๐๐ฏ๐ข๐ ๐๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐๐ซ๐ญ๐๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐ฒ?
Our karakia โMe He Waiโ or โBe Like Waterโ was created to reflect the fluidity and resilience that is needed for our mahi and feels like a solid approach for many things in life.
Finally, be brave and open to talking with people with alternative views, and understandings, especially those who will really challenge you. Most people are happy to help you just need to ask.
Reflective Question: what is the bravest thing you have done in the past three months?
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