The Kaitiakitanga Charitable Trust was born out of Murray’s powerful personal vision, harnessing the power of community and the environment to mentor disadvantaged young people.
Murray uses skills and connections developed in his past life, as a corporate litigator and partner in a leading Hamilton law firm Stace Hammond, to facilitate the projects the trust undertakes. They have recently partnered with The WaterBoy and Taku Wairua to further their common goals and be better equipped to help more people.
Kai – The prefix kai means someone who carries out an action.
Tiaki – means to guard, preserve, foster, protect and shelter.
A kaitiaki is a person, group or being that acts as a carer, guardian, protector and conserver. Notions of care and protection are at the heart of kaitiakitanga, and give it its conservation ethic.
In Māori culture, the gods of the natural world were considered to be the original kaitiaki – for instance, Tāne, god of the forest, was the kaitiaki of the forest. All other kaitiaki emulate those original ones[1].
Kaitiakitanga means guardianship and protection. It is a way of managing the environment, based on the Māori world view in which people are closely connected to the land and nature.
Purpose
- To rehabilitate waterways compromised by human activity.
- To offer opportunities for young people to develop attributes and resources to overcome past circumstances and to create a different future for themselves and their whanau/family.
Core Values
- Nature has the power to repair and renew
- Clean water is the lifeblood of everything on Earth
- Work with value brings rewards greater than its effort
- Each of us deserves the opportunity to change
- We are grateful to those who give
- NOW is the best time
kaitiakitangatrust.com 