T\u0101iki e! in Gisborne’s central city is billed as a collaborative space with an agenda for social and environmental action. It has a team of people of all ages, from all over the region, who were perfectly placed to step in and lend a land when the bad weather struck. Some of them spoke to reporter Kate Green about their work during times of disaster, and beyond.<\/i><\/p>\n
Walking into T\u0101iki e! was like entering a cosy living room.<\/p>\n
Desks looked out onto the Gisborne central city street through large windows curved around a group of squashy sofas, and in the kitchen, a coffee machine hummed.<\/p>\n
Mac Wynne had her legs tucked underneath her on an armchair. At 18, she worked full-time as a rangatahi entrepreneurship activator at T\u0101iki e!<\/p>\n
Mostly, she just did what needed doing, she said.<\/p>\n
When\u00a0Civil Defence kicked into gear<\/a>\u00a0in the aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle, Tai R\u0101whiti’s young people were not about to be left out.<\/p>\n The week following the storm was filled with power and communication\u00a0outages<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0immense flooding<\/a>.<\/p>\n The T\u0101iki e! hub on Peel Street acted as a drop-in centre for people looking for news and connection, and donations of food were left in their “free kai” stall out the front for those who needed it more.<\/p>\n Soon enough, the team was busy unloading trucks at the Salvation Army, packing planes down at the airport, and putting together food boxes to be sent up the coast alongside charity, Supergrans.<\/p>\n “We’ve got the people here who have the drive to help, so we were able to go out and do that help,” Wynne said.<\/p>\n “But now that the immediate response has sort of ceased, we’re going and looking at longer-term solutions.”<\/p>\n