Taking Manurewa Marae to the world
Manurewa Marae has always been passionate about being one of the most progressive marae in the country. So when it came to ways of extending their reach into the community and strengthening bonds of their whanau, it was natural for them to take that passion to the Internet.
“We wanted to develop a website so we could promote the marae to the community, the region, the nation and internationally,” says Manurewa Marae Trustboard Chairman Eru Thompson.
And in keeping with their philosophy of using the resources in the local community to engage and empower the marae, the process of developing the website involved marae staff, Trustees and the wider whanau.
Eru Thompson says the development of the site presented some challenges, especially gathering the information and expertise to drive the content. But, he says, “it's better when you have a team that gathers the information, rather than one person. At the end of the day it's the whanau of the marae who decide exactly what they would like to go into the website, and from there the website developer can put it together.”
They received assistance from the New Zealand Tourism Research Institute (NZTRI) at the Auckland University of Technology, who provided a co-ordinator with the technical knowledge to oversee the development of the project and design the website.
“They (NZTRI) not only supported us financially but also have been very helpful in changing the website, when we requested changes to the pages, artwork, font and layout. Whenever we had suggestions regarding ways that would be easier for us to upload information, they were very accommodating.”
Further funding was obtained from the Digital Strategy's Community Partnership Fund (CPF), enabling the Marae to run a series of workshops that focused on training staff in the valuable Information and Communication Technology (ICT) skills to develop and administrate the website, and also gave iwi members the opportunity to develop content for the site.
“Without the financial support, we wouldn't have been able to get the expertise to promote the drive for the contents and to make the information available,” Mr. Thompson says.
The marae website (http://www.manurewamarae.co.nz/) went live in August 2007 and is constantly being updated and improved.
“As the website develops you realise ways in which it can be easier to use, and better for the whanau,” he says. “We keep the information on the website as current as possible, so whanau continuously come back to the website to see the updates.”
Maintained by marae web master, Lorraine Byers, the site has multi-media features such as documentaries and photos, the history of the marae and the area, information about whanau and governance of the marae – all of it created by the marae community itself. And through the website whanau can book the marae online, donate, scan events and keep up to date with newsletters.
As a result, Eru Thompson says there is constant engagement with the community and the marae is a lot more visible to their whanau and the wider world.
“Overall it has been an excellent communication tool that has benefited the marae and the community. The marae has become one of the most progressive and most active in the country. It’s been non-stop as a result of the promotion of the website.”
And he says it's not just people living in Aotearoa that are visiting the website.
“Whanau from overseas are coming home for their weddings as they continue to identify Manurewa marae as their marae.”
He strongly recommends that all marae, community organisations and groups should develop dynamic websites.
“A website is a tool that can promote, grow and inform your clients, whanau and community of what your business is all about, and enable people to be informed,” he says.
“New Zealand has one of the highest number of computer per head of capita, which tells us that more and more whanau are learning how to use a computer and the internet. It's an excellent communication tool that has allowed us to develop with the growing times, and still maintain our Kawa (protocols) and Tikanga (practices), which are never compromised.”
“Technology is the way of the world, upgrade, and present the future to the young people of today for a way forward tomorrow.”
Visit the Manurewa Marae website at: http://www.manurewamarae.co.nz/
* Article by Nick Stanley, CommunityNet Aotearoa's Web Content Writer.