E ngā mana, e ngā reo, e ngā ringa tautoko i te kaupapa e manaaki nei i a Tāmaki Makaurau, Tāmaki herenga tangata, Tāmaki herenga waka, Tāmaki Tū Kotahi, tēnei te aumihi o te aroha te rere atu nei ki a koutou katoa. E kī ana te kōrero “Nā tōu rourou, nā tōku rourou e ora ai te iwi” E rau rangatira mā, kua ora ai te iwi i a koutou.
E kore e ārikarika ngā mihi ki a koutou i tū tira ira mai.
‘gotyadot’ was super-successful in the weekend with 2,024 Māori ‘dotted’ (vaccinations) at our ira hubs out of 2,733 across Tāmaki Makaurau. All in all, 15,332 people got ‘dotted’ across Auckland on the 6/7 November. South Auckland had the highest number of Māori in a day 1,075 received their dots.
One of the rangatahi who came with his partner as support to ‘get dotted’ was Iwingaro Matthews. He received his second ‘dot’ and said he especially came to Ngā Ana Wai for his ‘ira dot.’
“I’m a kaihaka, I want to perform here for Te Matatini in 2023, so I came for a sneak peek of the hype and to tautoko the kaupapa of ira dot. Straight away I saw familiar faces, the atmosphere and kapa haka on the big screen made me feel good about coming here.”
Asked if he’d like to win a taonga, Iwingaro performed a powerful solo haka and left Eden Park with his ‘gotyadot’ T-shirt, bucket hat, mask and a 50” TV.
The TikTok takeovers, ‘ ‘gotyadot’ rangatahi influencers and the continuous live stream crosses from Eden Park to the ira dot hubs in West Auckland, Otara and Mangere successfully amplified the engagement for rangatahi by rangatahi.
‘gotyadot’ spokesperson, Pere Wihongi says
“Rangatahi were the presenters and the camera operators and the activators who used social media to kōrero, to have a laugh, sing a waiata, do a poi or a pukana to share their thoughts on the dot and our combined efforts in the battle against covid.
“Our reo was missing in this space, a lot of good work is being done but ‘gotyadot’ changed the narrative and rangatahi led their whānau, school friends, sports friends, social followers to push our message ‘gotyadot’, ‘dot ya lot’, ‘connect ya dots’ I’m very happy, over two thousand Māori ‘got dotted’, we achieved our goal.”
Dad Josh Wikiriwhi drove his whānau of 7 down from Wellsford to Westlake Boys to support his 12 year old son Kimiora to get his first dot. “I really liked what I saw on the live stream and the whole time we were there we felt the manaaki from the teachers, the medical team, and the security. The whānau environment helped make the whole process easier for us.”
The cherry on the top for the Ngāti Whatua Dad was when his whānau jumped to haka mode performing ‘Te Pūru’ the haka tautoko with Kimiora who received two major spot prizes ( 50”TV and a XBox) for ‘getting his dot’ at one of the four ira dot hubs.
“We felt good, we wanted to help raise the percentage of Māori, and be ‘dotted’ to protect ourselves.”
What’s next for ‘gotyadot’
Te Tira Ira (event organisers) and Tāmaki, Tū Kotahi (Auckland, united we stand) the collective of Tāmaki Iwi, Kapa Haka, Hauora Māori providers, Corporate Partners, Kura Tuarua and Whare Wānanga are all proud of how rangatahi Māori connected the dots in the weekend helping our region surpass the 90% first dose vaccination target.
Ngāti Whātua Orākei Whai Maia’s Chief Executive Rangimarie Hunia, acknowledging the kotahitanga of all the rōpū doing incredible mahi in Tāmaki to protect the future leaders of our great city.
“Tonight as we move to Step 2 of Level 3, we’re excited we’ve landed a kaupapa that brings the focus on to rangatahi. It’s transferable, we already have kura in the Kaipara asking for it. We’re also working on spin off events called ‘Plot ya Dot’ where our team will come to you.”
“Ira dot is a real hiki wairua (spiritual boost) while Tāmaki’s first ‘dotyalot’ (vaccination doses) are high, we will continue to keep dotting every day, keep encouraging our whānau, our rangatahi and our tamariki to have open kōrero with one another. Reach out to us if you need tautoko, Te Tira Ira are not resting.”
More details about future ‘gotyadot’ events in Auckland will be available on @gotyadot.co.nz
Click here to see locations.