There are eight recipients of the Port of Tauranga's Turirangi Te Kani Memorial Scholarships this year after four people were awarded them at Mount Maunganui today.
These scholarships are for up to three years' tertiary study and are awarded to young people from the Tauranga Moana Trust Board area with tribal affiliation with Tauranga iwi.
Joyce Haigh received the scholarship on behalf of her niece Kahurangi Ahomiro today along with James Simonsson and Hiki Ngata. They celebrated with Port of Tauranga CEO Mark Cairns.
The four people to receive a scholarship today are:
- Kahurangi Ahomiro, 19, studying for a Bachelor of Nursing Degree at the Bay of Plenty Polytechnic.
- Hikitapu Ngata, 17, studying for an Engineering Degree at Waikato University.
- James Simonsson, 18, studying Health Science (Orthopaedics), at Otago University.
- Aurere Thatcher, 19, studying for a Degree in Media and Creative Technologies, majoring in Maori Media and Communications, at Waikato University.
The Turirangi Te Kani Memorial Scholarships honour one of Tauranga's leading community figures, and have been awarded annually by the Port for 22 years on recognition of Turi's contributions to the community and the port community.
A former Maori Battalion soldier who saw action in Greece in World War II, before being captured, Turirangi Te Kani was a farmer, and waterside worker who was a key figure behind setting up the trusts that saw much of the Maori land about the Western Bay being converted into kiwifruit production. He was a co-founder of similar trusts at Ranginui, Rangiwaea, and Matapihi – a move that was instrumental in establishing a long term income for the owners of local tribal lands.
Turirangi Te Kani was killed when stuck by a car while he was walking alongside the road near Te Maunga on June 4, 1990.
Port of Tauranga chief executive officer Mark Cairns says the company enjoys taking an active interest in the education of the scholarship winners.
'The scholarships are awarded on a year-by-year basis and the students report back on their study progress and exam results each year.”
Of the eight recipients of the award from 2010 and 2011, four have been affirmed to receive the scholarship funds again in 2012.
They are: Te Haana Jacob, Danielle Lucas, Natasha Martin and Fonteyn Gear.
3 comments
HANDOUTS FOR WHAT EXACTLY ??
Posted on 02-02-2012 20:45 | By RORTSCAM
Would be very interested to learn what the criteria is for obtaining one these POT scholarships and how much each is worth per annum. Anyone know ?
gift week
Posted on 03-02-2012 08:43 | By bonner
i would say the cost of the scholarships probably cost permission to dredge the harbor from the local iwi at the expence of the pipi bed so bigger ships can visit the port
we can all guess
Posted on 05-02-2012 12:17 | By Scambuster
@bonner I think you might be on to it but shouldn't the PORT as a public company spell it out for us so we can all reach our own conclusions.
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