Maryanne Bedggood says her life has been turned upside down by the Mangamuka Gorge closure. Photo / Supplied via Stuff
Tērā tētahi kaiako ki te Nōta kua rangā tōna ao e mahi tonu ai ki tētahi kura reo rumaki, he aukati tonu nō te Huarahi Matua 1.
A Northland kaiako (teacher) has upended her life to keep working at a Māori immersion school amid the ongoing closure of State Highway 1.
Kua aukati te huarahi matua i Mangamuka, he ua tātā i te Ākuhata i tini ai ngā horohoro i te peka rā – koia tērā te aukatinga tuaruatanga kino i ngā tau e rua kua hori.
The highway has been closed at Mangamuka Gorge since heavy rain in August caused dozens of slips on the corridor – the second lengthy closure in two years.
Tērā tonu te kī taurangi ka whakatikaina, ā, kua kore hoki e pāngia e ngā mahinga anō nā te Huripari Gabrielle, engari tāria ake te hiku o Māehe e mōhio ai hei āhea te tuwheratanga.
A fix has been promised and has not been compromised by Cyclone Gabrielle repairs elsewhere, but a timeline for reopening will not be known until the end of March.
Ki a Maryanne Bedggood, te kaiako nō Hōreke, me kakama te tuwheratanga.
For Hōreke kaiako Maryanne Bedggood, the opening can’t come soon enough.
He wā tōna i 45 mēneti te roa o tana taraiwa ki te mahi ki Te Rangi Āniwaniwa, ki Awanui.
She used to spend 45 minutes driving to her job at Te Rangi Āniwaniwa in Awanui.
Heoti anō, nā te aukati o te huarahi matua, kua huri tērā haerenga ki te kotahi hāora, e 45 mēneti mā SH10.
However, the highway closure has turned that into a one hour and 45-minute journey on SH10.
I te 2022, kua 3.5 hāora te hāereere a Maryanne rangi mai, rangi atu, engari i te tau nei, kua pai ake tāna noho kē ki Kaitāia.
Bedggood was travelling the 3.5 hour round trip each day in 2022, but this year decided it would be a better option to board in Kaitāia.
E oti i a ia te rēti i tētahi rūma i tāna tama, tā te mea kua tiu kē atu tētahi tokorua tamariki āna ki te whare wānanga.
She is able to rent a room from her son, whose two older children have gone to university.
Engari tonu, kāore e oti i a Maryanne te tari i āna kuri e rua, nā konā kua mate ia ki te waiho i a Blaze me Luga ki tōna kāinga, ki Hōreke.
However, Bedggood is unable to take her two dogs with her, which means she has had to leave rottweiler Blaze and American pitbull Luga at her place at Hōreke.
E toru āna waihapenga atu ki ēnā i ia wiki, ka mutu, kua utua tāna irāmutu te $60 i ia wiki kia hokona te penehini e whāngai ai ia i a ia e tamō ana.
She travels back to them three times a week, plus pays her nephew $60 a week petrol money to feed them while she is away.
Kua $360 hemihemi te whakapaunga pūtea a Maryanne i ia wiki – he $150 ki te rēti, he $150 ki te penehini, he $60 ki te “manaaki” kurī – katoa ēnā he āpitihanga ki āna utunga mōketi, aha atu hoki.
It’s left Bedggood at least $360 a week out of pocket – $150 for board, $150 extra for petrol and $60 for dog “babysitting” – on top of her mortgage and usual expenses.
Tērā utunga tērā, me te aha anō e rongo ana ia i te pānga ki ngā kare ā-roto, hei tāna.
As well as the cost, the time and emotional impact was having a toll, she said.
Maryanne Bedggood now faces a drive of about one hour and 45 minutes each time she goes home, thanks to the closure of SH1 at Mangamuka Gorge. Photo / Google Maps via Stuff
“Ka whakaaro ake au, nā whai anō ka pā mai ki tōku ao... Me oho au hei te 4am e tae atu ai [ki te kura] hei te 8am, ka mutu, e mokemoke pai ana ki āku kurī,” hei ko tāna.
“I think about it and it certainly impacts my life ... I have to get up at 4am just to get here [at school] by 8am and I really do miss my dogs,” she said.
“Kāhore anō ngā huarahi kia whakapaingia, kāti, he nui ngā mahinga ā-hurahi.”
“The roads haven’t improved and there are lots of roadworks.”
Engari kāhore a Maryanne mō te wehe i Te Rangi Āniwaniwa, te whakaako ai ia i ngā tau e whitu.
But Bedggood said she does not want to leave Te Rangi Āniwaniwa, where she has taught for about seven years.
“E kaingākau tonu ana au ki te whakaako ki konei,” tāna kī mai.
“I still really enjoy teaching here,” she said.
“E rawe ana te hokinga atu ki te kura, mahi tahi ai ki ngā tamariki. He tokoiti mārika ngā kaiako reo Māori, ka mutu, kua pai to hononga ki konei.
“It’s wonderful to be back at school and working with our tamariki. There’s a big shortage of te reo Māori teachers and I’ve found a rapport here.
“E tino uaua ana.”
“It’s pretty hard.”
E ai ki te kaiwhakahaere o Te Rangi Āniwaniwa, Trudy Brown, he kaiako “mīharo” a Maryanne.
Te Rangi Āniwaniwa kaiwhakahaere (chairperson) Trudy Brown said Bedggood was an “awesome” teacher.
“E mōhio ana au ki a Maryanne me te taumaha o te pīkautanga, kaua noa ki a ia, engari ki ō mātou whānau katoa kua pāngia [e te aukatinga o Mangamuka].”
“I know Maryanne and how difficult it’s been, not just for her but all our whānau impacted [by the Mangamuka Gorge closure].”
Maryanne Bedggood cannot take her two dogs, Blaze (left) and Luga (bottom right), with her to Kaitāia so she has to pay for babysitting and drive back to Hōreke three times a week. Photo / Supplied
I whakaae a Trudy, me uaua ka whakapoapoa i ngā kaiako reo Māori, ina koa ki Kaitāia, te torutoru ai ngā kāinga e taea nei e te pūkoro.
Brown agreed te reo Māori teachers were very difficult to attract, especially in the Kaitāia area where there was a shortage of affordable housing.
“E ngāwari ake ana te whāia i Tāmaki, engari korekore he tokoiti noa iho ngā kaiako ki konei he kōrero Māori.”
“They may be much easier to find in Auckland but certainly there’s a shortage of Māori-speaking kaiako up here.”
Ko te manako o Te Rangi Āniwaniwa, me āna ākonga 186, kia tiakina, kia puritia tonutia ngā kaiako ōna i tēnei wā, kia ākina hoki ngā raukura kia waihape, hei tāna.
Te Rangi Āniwaniwa, which has 186 students, hopes to look after and hold onto the kaiako it has, as well as encouraging former students to return, she said.
Kua kī mai a Waka Kotahi, e haere tahi ana ngā hoahoa horohoro me ngā mahinga huarahi e tere ai te tuwheratanga o te ara “waiwai”.
Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency said slip design and physical work on the gorge is happening at the same time to ensure the “critical” route can be opened as soon as possible.
Mangamuka Gorge has significant damage from the August 2022 torrential rain, including a number of significant underslips. Photo / Waka Kotahi
“E whakaarotau ana mātou ki te tūhononga anō o ngā hapori Tai Tokerau i te wāhi nei. Mā ngā mahi ā mātou o āianei e haumaru ai, e māmā ai, e tere ai hoki te mahinga whakatika horohoro,” te kupu a te kaiwhakahaere hinonga Norman Collier.
“Reconnecting Far North communities at this location is our priority. The work we’re doing now will mean slip repair construction can run as safely, smoothly and quickly as possible,” project manager Norman Collier said.
I te Tāite, i tauākī mai te umanga kua oti ngā mahinga whakatikahanga whawhati tata, ā, kua taea te tīmata i ngā mahinga horohoro.
On Thursday, the agency announced emergency repair work had been completed and slip work could now start.
Hei tā Norman, ka aro te marama tuatahi ki te haumaru me te tau o te awaawa e ō pai ai ngā mīhini nui e matea nei kia whakatikaina ngā horohoro.
Collier said the first month would be focussed on ensuring the gorge was safe and stable enough to accommodate the large machinery needed to carry out slip repairs.
Mā Waka Kotahi hoki e whakatewhatewha te ara e whanakehia ai te huarahi e kauparetia ai ngā pānga huarere me ngā panonitanga āhuarangi hei te anamata, hei tā Norman.
Waka Kotahi would also investigate how the road could be improved to withstand future weather events and climate change, Collier said.
He mea whakamāori e te Kaihautū Reo Māori ki Puna, e Taurapa.
Translation by Stuff Kaihautū Reo Māori Taurapa.
