Te Wananga o Aotearoa’s 30th birthday

ABOUT 100 litres of chocolate ganache, 50 litres of butter cream icing and 276 kilograms of chocolate cake came together in one monster celebration of Te Wananga o Aotearoa’s 30th birthday in Gisborne. The wananga has existed for 30 years and Gisborne has had its own campus since 1985. That is 15 years of “whanau transformation through education,” in Gisborne, as the slogan on the T-shirts of staff members reads.
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About 300 people gathered in the car park to watch longest-serving staff member Annie Karaka and kaumatua Eru Mahia Smith - also known as Papa Buddy - cut the cake. Ms Karaka said she was humbled by the privilege. “I enjoy watching the whanau transformations here and knowing that we can all have a second chance at learning. “Seeing the outcome and being a part of people bettering themselves and their families through study, or pursuing a career, is why I have stayed for so long.” The cake was made by the Upper Cut Posse, the wananga kitchen crew contracted from The Gisborne Deli. Head baker for the project Kevin Murphy said 30 hours of planning, 35 hours of baking and five hours of piping went into creating the giant treat. “It is not every day you bake a 426kg cake. “Ralph Leiataua and I baked the cake on Friday and Saturday. Five of us iced it on Monday. We were up at 4am to do the piping.” The piping in question was a butter cream icing replica of the wananga’s logo and name. “It was great. The cake is actually made up of 46 cakes, 6kg each,” said Mr Murphy. Councillor Josh Wharehinga, Papa Buddy and other staff members spoke about the history of the wananga and the importance of celebrating its 30th milestone.
Filmed and Edited by
Ben Cowper
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