Auckland Girls’ Grammar School students experienced a once in a lifetime opportunity on Friday, 12 May when Dr Maya Soetoro spoke at a special school assembly.
Dr Soetoro, is the Director of the Matsunaga Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution at the University of Hawaii where she teaches Leadership for Social Change, Peace Education and Conflict Management.
Impressed by her CV, there was a collective intake of breath in the auditorium when it was announced that in addition to her significant contribution to global peacebuilding she also happened to have a brother named Barack Obama.
Dr Soetoro had been invited to speak at the Aotearoa’s Global Women hui on the subject of equitable futures for Māori, indigenous and women of colour. Unfortunately, Auckland’s latest weather event cancelled the hui on Tuesday, 9 May, but the students who attended the school assembly were privileged to hear not only Dr Soetoro’s inspiring words but also a special waiata that was to be performed for the Global Women hui.
The waiata was composed by Joey Rogers, Powhakarae of Ngā Tūmanako o Kahurangi, the school’s Māori Unit, and Anya Satyanand who is a member of Global Women – an organisation committed to championing diversity in leadership to create more equitable social and economic outcomes.
Dr Soetoro shared with the students the power of women coming together with humility and strength to share their gifts as a way to decolonise the world, ease trauma and find innovative solutions to the challenges facing the world today. She used the imagery of Chuchi Mata, (washing your eyes), as a way of allowing ourselves to see the world through different perspectives.
Continuing the water metaphor, Dr Soetoro encouraged the audience to imagine themselves immersed in a river with the obstacles that hold us all back on one bank and the hopeful future we seek on the other. If we are to create a world of citizens actively committed to peace, we must become committed peacebuilders and confident upstanders so that we may bridge the two riverbanks.
The waiata, 'He Taonga Kamehameha', is written in te reo Māori and English; the lyrics bridge our bicultural nation as a reflection on the role of mana wāhine and tauiwi women in emerging a more hopeful future for Aotearoa. Agnes Naera, the Chief Executive of Global Women, felt the wairua and warmth of the Auckland Girls’ welcome for Global Women and Dr Soetoro.
“There is an obvious and deep alignment between the values and purpose of our organisation and the work that happens every day in this school.” Ms Naera, who spoke after Dr Soetoro, challenged students to take account of their commercial worth in the workplace, and their potential to make a contribution and create value through leadership in New Zealand’s business world.
After the assembly, Dr Soetoro sat down at our school marae with some Ngā Tūmanako o Kahurangi students to answer questions about her role as an international peace ambassador as well as finding out what it was like to pop into the White House for a family get together or to fly on Air Force One. Dr Soetoro was also presented with a patu (taonga). Mahalo nui loa. Aloha!
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29 May 2023