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Kiri Thomas: Three things that make it real for me

‘Belonging is the experience of connection to a community… it is more than home, it is both a set of relationships and a place of connection to history. Both act to define a person, give them a sense of identity and enable them to lift their head…’
- Lloyd Martin ‘The Invisible Table’ p 154

<typohead type="3">kai</typohead>

One of the biggest things that makes me feel I belong apart from whanau, is… food! I don’t know whether it’s just an excuse being Cook Island Maori or not, but I know our culture is huge on hospitality, and food comes into that in a big way. For me, one of the biggest compliments is when family or friends come to my house and feel comfortable enough to go right into the kitchen, open the fridge and cupboards and find themselves something to eat. I know that some of my friends are a little shocked when they first see me in their fridge...but it soon becomes part of the Kiri-routine...in the door, turn the jug on and into the fridge, (unless they are there all ready.) They say that a way to a man's heart is through food – but it is also the same for me!

<typohead type="3">whanau</typohead>

Family...and the extended whanau! It may seem that everybody is a bro, a cousin or some kind of distant relative. The truth is, there is no limit to who is part of the whanau. I’d say, that those who are part of my life are all whanau. Whanau means more than just blood relatives; it is those I share the journey of life with. Whanau is a place to belong...a place I love being and can call home.

<typohead type="3">nga tangata o te whare karakia</typohead>

I believe that this is what it comes down to within our local churches where we call home. It is and needs to be a place where we feel comfortable because we are surrounded by whanau, people we know and who know us, people we care about and who care about us and love us. No matter what culture we are from, what background we have had or what age we are, we all want to be known, loved and celebrated and this is what whanau is all about! Having a place we call home...a place where we belong.

Kiri Shepherd was youth worker at St Johns Rotorua, until recently when she became Kiri Thomas and moved to Wellington