Papatūānuku is our home.
She is our Earth Mother.
The Mother of all life and many species.
She provides food for everyone and everything on our Earth.
But she needs our help.

She is heavy under the weight of all our waste.
Ranginui is choking on smoky air,
Tawhirimatea is angry and brings thunderstorms,
Tangaroa’s waters are full of plastic,
And Tāne’s birds are building plastic nests.

Every Tuesday lunch, my friends and I pick up rubbish.
But I think we can all make a change if we work together.

By Aroha Castro Recio (10 yrs)

“But I think we can all make a change if we work together.”

Aroha is a Year 6 student at South End School. She is taking action not only at school but at home. Aroha motivated her family to create a food forest. Last year Aroha shared produce boxes weekly with her Earth school teacher, friends and neighbours as her vegetable gardens were so abundant. Sometimes the students can inspire and lead the way teaching us all resilience, kindness and community.