Rourou Conversations

People of Puāwai

People of Puāwai is a podcast series where the amazing rangatahi from the Puāwai Programme share their stories, the changes they want to see in society, their hopes for the future and things they’re passionate about.

Puāwai is a four month experience for designed to support diverse rangatahi who are potential leaders, disruptors and innovators but who have experienced discrimination because of their identity.

For more information and links check out: ⁠Linktree ⁠and ⁠Instagram⁠

This programme was produced at PlainsFM in beautiful Ōtautahi Christchurch.

Introducing our People of Puāwai series

This series is outlined here and you can select any of the episodes and listen on your favourite platform. Get the headphones or the airpods out and be inspired, challenged and changed forever!

Rourou | Jupiter, Millie and Cooper

People of Puawai Series 1 Ep 1: Jupiter and Millie

Jupiter and Millie discuss their experiences as young queer people from different cultural backgrounds, how these cultures interacted with their broader identities and how they influenced their interactions with their peers as well as relationships with their whānau.

Rourou | Kai, Carrot and Cooper

People of Puāwai Series 1 Ep 2: Kai and Carrot

Kai and Carrot talk about how they have experienced the world. Both are of Polynesian descent, which often finds people of ethnic groups boxed together, Kai and Carrot’s stories show us how much variability there is in an individual’s identity, that there are complex and different ways in which people navigate the world and most importantly, that we do people an injustice if we don’t get to know an individual story before we make assumptions about them.

Rourou | Benedict, Ryan and Cooper

People of Puāwai Series 1 Ep 3: Benedict and Ryan

Benedict and Ryan talk about their experiences as young Filipino migrants in Aotearoa, the years of whānau separation, transferring from schooling in the Philippines to Aotearoa, reflections on Filipino culture, and what it is like to be queer amongst all of that.

Rourou | Gray, Kat and Cooper

People of Puāwai Series 1 Ep 5: Gray and Kat

We have Gray and Kat on the show today. They are two queer young people who have spent a significant amount of their life under the care of Oranga Tamariki. They discuss the differences in each of their experiences of state care as well as the similarities; how this impacted their schooling, relationships with their whānau and themselves.

Rourou | Andre, Abdi and Cooper

People of Puāwai Series 1 Ep 4: Andre and Abdi

Today we have Andre and Abdi on the show. They’re two young people who migrated to Aotearoa during primary school. One from the Philippines and the other from Somalia. They discuss their experiences of migration, how their experiences of school, community and self-identity were impacted, the change they would like to see in the world and what inspires them to be change-makers.

Rourou | Saf, Alena and Cooper

People of Puāwai Series 1 Ep 6: Saf and Alena

Today with us we have Saf and Alena. They are two Nepali Bhutanese young women who were born in Nepal and moved to Aotearoa as refugees when they were children. In this episode, Saf and Alena discuss a brief history of how they became refugees, what being a refugee in Aotearoa schooling was like in the 2010s, their relationships with both Nepali and Bhutanese cultures, and the experience of being the oldest girl in brown households.

Rourou | Zoe Mlambo

People of Puāwai Series 3 Ep 5: Crazy Middle-Class Africans

A faithful reenactment of a family dinner, with guests Semhar Macknight & Gerald Mlambo, two of Zoe Mlambo's many ridiculous siblings.

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