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Āwhina Birthdays

Āwhina 12th Birthday

Āwhina whānau celebrated its 12th birthday on Thursday 21 July 2011 in the Alan MacDiarmid Building at Victoria University Kelburn campus.

Āwhina waiata loud and proud as always

Birthday MC feels ‘salsa hot' and passes it on to the front row

Mark and his new hoodie ... stunning!

Dafnis gets everyone ready for a Mexican Wave... or not!

Āwhina whānau caught up in the fun

Thinking time for our emerging Ngāti Toa marine scientists ...

... then the fog clears!

New A+D mentors & mentees soaking up the atmosphere

Doug and his rose…

3 cakes x 4 cutters = Happy 12th Birthday Āwhina!

Āwhina 11th Birthday

Āwhina whānau celebrated its 11th birthday in style just like every other year at Te Herenga Waka Marae.

The Āwhina waiata was loud and proud.

The whare was packed with Āwhina whānau members. Speakers included Āwhina alumnus Kirikowhai and keynote
speaker Phil O’Reily from Business New Zealand. MCs Hautahi & Raymond kept things moving along.

Āwhina summer researchers presented their research.

Oscar winning performances from Arch & Design mentors and “Equations and Revelations” ended the formalities in the wharenui.

Everyone tucked into the delicious kai part of which was the birthday cake.

Patsie and Juscinta attacked the birthday cake with sharp knives.

If you missed out then there’s only one thing to say......you missed out (just kidding).

See you at the 12th  birthday celebration!

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Āwhina 10th birthday

A MILESTONE FOR ĀWHINA WHĀNAU

On Saturday the 8th of August, Āwhina whānau hosted its 10th birthday celebration at the Premise bar on the 3rd level of Rankin Brown building (library). The view of the city and the harbour in the evening from the venue is spectacular but that wasn’t what kept the 200 invited guests and whānau members buzzing all night. It was the splendid, hilarious, indescribable entertainment put together by the mentors for all to ponder about and admire the talents that lie within the whānau. In simple words, you just had to be there!!!!

But here’s a chance for you to admire some of the moments captured on the night and now you’ll have to wait until the next birthday.
By the way, who wouldn’t drool over a chocolate cake this big?

The evening kicked off with a karakia given by Mihaere followed by a strong Āwhina Waiata performed by all Āwhina mentors.
Adele and Helen reminisced about their former days as Āwhina mentors and commented on how much Āwhina has grown since then.
It’s amazing to think that back in 1999 Āwhina whānau started with only a handful of students and now there are over 600 current
mentors and mentees.

Some of the entertainment included Roimata and her group of singers accompanied by Doug, Patsie and Mihaere,

an orchestral performance by Equations and Revelations (Tracey, Dave, and Catherine forming the classical component and Jonnel, Elf, Ramona and Jules making up the acoustic guitar and ukulele section),

a skit by the psychology mentors based on the life of Maui (Naomi, Ashton, Blaine, Stacey and crew), a Latin flamenco performance (Matiu), a solo performance by Te Taite, and a hilarious skit from the Architecture & Design mentors.

The audience also witnessed a first ever Āwhina documentary ‘The Office’ which featured a lot of Āwhina mentors. (Link to video here)

Stomachs were kept full with nibbles and a delicious sit-down dinner followed by many sweet dessert
treats. This was accompanied by background music by our lovely DJ, former Āwhina mentor, Julian.
Throughout the evening, we heard from a number of summer studentship recipients about the exciting research they carried out, and this was complemented by a slideshow and posters.

To conclude the celebration, the birthday cake was cut, and Liz made an inspiring speech.

The whole evening ran smoothly thanks to the very competent MC Hautahi.

Thanks also to the office team and all other Āwhina members who helped in the organisation and setup on the day.

Thank you also to all the supporters of Āwhina for a fantastic 10 years and we hope that they will continue to be there for Āwhina for many years to come.
   

Click here for more images of this fun evening.

Āwhina's 9th Birthday

The delicious cake at Awhina's 9th birthday celebration before it disappeared

Click here to view the school presentations

Āwhina's 8th Birthday
13 September 2007

The delicious cake at Awhina's 8th birthday celebration before it disappeared

Āwhina 7th Birthday Celebration 2006
9 October, 2006

The 7th birthday of Te Ropu Awhina Putaiao was held on 14th September at Te Herenga Waka Marae. The night was an incredible success with over 180 people in attendance. It was nice to catch up with old friends, make some new ones and reflect on the success of past and present Awhina students. Awhina has gone through many changes over the years but as Liz always says, "the students are the heart and soul of Awhina and the students are what make Awhina work".

The students in charge of organising the evening did a fantastic job. Many thanks to our MC, Ben; our Quiz Queen, Arama and our organising committee, Emma, Helene, Carrie and Clarissa. Special thanks to Michelle, Te Raina and Debbie who made sure things ran smoothly on the night. Highlights of the night included:

• Snazzy new Awhina hoodies.
• The annual mentor photo.
• Revival of the Awhina waiata.
• Presentations made by graduate Awhina Mentors; Tara (Architecture & Design) and Kirikowhai (Maths and Statistics).
• Presentations made by student representatives from each of the schools: Ray (Architecture and Design), Johnny (Psychology), Maciu (Earth Science), Kimberley (Biological Science), Nicholas (Computer Science), and Emma (Chemical and Physical Science).
• An acknowledgement made to our Awhina matriarch Liz Richardson was hilarious. Liz has been a wonderful mentor and friend to us all over the years and it was nice to see her get the recognition she so thoroughly deserves but always seems to manage to avoid!

Awhina has played a role in the success of many students over the years and we look forward to celebrating many more achievements and birthdays together in the future.
Report by Adele.