Mahia Te Aroha
action the compassion
What is Mahia te aroha?
Mahia te Aroha, the Christchurch Invitation is an initiative that invites us all to take small acts of compassion to foster a society where people of all cultures and faiths can have a sense of belonging. We grew out of the extraordinary response of peace and compassion following the mosque terrorist attacks in Christchurch, along with the “open doors” that were offered by the mosques in the aftermath. Founded by members of the Muslim Community, Mahia te Aroha is an invitation for us all to Spread Peace, Share Kai, Reconnect, and Reflect.
Mahia te aroha’s focus
Spread Peace:
Mahia te Aroha is working with secondary schools to enable students to have courageous conversations on belonging. The inaugural student hui in October 2022 was co-designed by a public/private school collaboration, and had over 50 students from 12 schools across the Waitaha, Canterbury region join the afternoon. The students have a clear appetite for more opportunities like this. Mahia te Aroha continues to work with schools to further this work.
Share Kai:
A collaboration between Mahia te Aroha and InCommon is bringing together a series of events and toolkits that fosters connection and kōrero over food, with the intention of showcasing the cultural diversity and richeness in our cities.
Peace Train:
Yusuf Islam/Cat Stevens gifted Christchurch city a Peace Train at Mahia te Aroha’s launch. The team continue to work with the Christchurch City Council - who manage the operations of this - to use this as a vehicle to promote peace to children and their families in the city.
Our Ōtautahi, Stronger Together
Mahia te Aroha’s inaugural student hui bringing together rangitahi to have gritty conversations on belonging. Read a school’s perspective here ….
The Peace Train
The team continue to work with the Christchurch City Council to explore opportunities to use the train to engage tamariki. Read about the Peace Train launch here…
Share Kai and Kōrero - a collaboration between Mahia te Aroha and InCommon, enabling people to connect with minority cultures, creating a sense of belonging for diners and cooks alike.
Filming by our friends at Telling Lives.
Meet and Eat for Unity Week. Mahia te Aroha and InCommon curated a space for people to come and connect over food during Unity Week.
Filming by our friends at Telling Lives
how seed the change is supporting?
We have been working with the co-founders of Mahia te Aroha since March 2020. Our support has ranged from:
providing space to do a deep dive on the principles forming it’s foundation
create a team around the initiative
use our organisational infrastructure to partner with Christchurch City Council and the Royal Humane Awards, to officially launch in July 2021
drive the development of the workstreams
foster partnerships and collaborations with aligned initiatives
secure funding
support the team to “out-grow” Seed the Change early stage support
Seed the Change has been able to continue our support of Mahia te Aroha with the support of PubCharity and the Lottery Communities Fund. Their support has been vital to enable us to amplify our support and impact with the project.