Summer Interns: Looking back to move forward
A fluent speaker of te reo Māori, Kahotea grew up on the shores of Rotoiti with her mother, father and two brothers. The siblings attended Te Kura Kaupapa o Te Rotoiti along with their wider whānau.
“My parents have always encouraged me to pursue things that I am passionate about. My passion and appreciation for all things Māori is my reasoning for anthropology.
“I’m immensely grateful for their support. I also recognise the effort and love that my wider whānau has shown me.
“During the holidays we would get to stay with Nanny and Koro. It was fun we would hang out with all our cousins and I would go to the marae and help the kaumātua and kuia mow the lawns and all that sort of stuff. I liked talking with all of them, they always helped me understand the past better,” Kahotea says.
The Council’s People and Organisational Development co-ordinator Louise Stanley runs the intern programme which has been running for more than 20 years.
“We received 148 expressions of interest for the 10 positions this time around which is a record high number for us.
“All the interns have a connection to Rotorua – some were born here, others moved here later in life, and many have returned to be with whānau over their summer tertiary break,” Louise says.
Every year staff are impressed by the calibre of the rangatahi who apply and the support they give council teams to deliver projects for our community.
The summer intern programme is advertised from early October each year on council’s website and social media channels as well as through local media, Student Job Search and various tertiary institution online job boards.