September 10th, 2025

We spoke with Terewai Simmonds, Pou Tikanga Māori at Enable New Zealand, about her te reo Māori journey and how learning the language has helped her working in the disability sector.

Growing up without ‘the language’

Terewai didn’t speak te reo Māori growing up. Her mother was raised in the generation where te reo was supressed and children were shamed and punished for speaking it in schools. Because of how the language was viewed in society, her grandmother decided that the family would not speak it at home.

Flash forward to the 1990s when private training establishments (PTEs) offering te reo Maori courses were common. Terewai started her te reo journey by enrolling in a course at Te Kura Mairaro, the PTE operated by her local marae.

“The opportunity to go back and learn te reo was calling to me.” says Terewai. “I really wanted to pursue it and raise my kids in the reo as well. My last child was born just before I started the course, so I was taking her to kura (school) with me.

“It was scary for me to go back and learn the reo. I had to prepare myself for it, because it was a whole new world except for getting little snippets at high school and on the marae.

“But there's a whole generation that have gone back and learnt the reo and are thriving in lots of places and spaces because of it. It's opened up a whole new world for me and I've been able to attain these really awesome roles out in the community.”

After finishing the course, Terewai went on to teach te reo at Te Kura Mairaro. She then worked at Te Wānanga o Raukawa, were she helped developed the te reo Māori programmes.

From there Terewai ventured into the health space, landing a role at Te Wakahuia Manawatū Trust, a Māori community health organisation in Palmerston North.

Working in health and disability with te reo

“Being able to speak te reo helped immensely.” says Terewai. “Equity is a huge challenge in health and disability.”

“When I started in health, our main kaupapa was to encourage our Māori communities to stop smoking, so the reo gave me another way of communicating effectively. I could sit with these kaumātua and whānau who wanted to speak te reo and wanted to engage with tikanga Māori. We even had a programme set up specifically for them in terms of tikanga Māori. I was also able to develop my reo further with this mahi (work).”

Terewai now works as Pou Tikanga Māori at Enable New Zealand, New Zealand’s largest disability equipment, information and modification supplier. She is the organisation’s expert on Tikanga Māori and supports her colleague’s to effectively engage with our tangata whaikaha (Māori disabled community).

A big focus for her is delivering the organisation’s Māori Advancement strategy to improve equity for Māori in our disability community.

“It’s about connecting and understanding. I’ve been working with our teams on ways that we can bring more te reo into their every day mahi. There are plenty of kupu (words) that are standard for some in our community and others are miles behind in their knowledge.

The best thing is that even those who are just starting out, have an excitement and joy in learning te reo. They recognise the value of understanding one of New Zealand’s two official languages and of the role they can play too in improving equity to services for New Zealanders.”

Terewai encourages anyone considering learning te reo Māori to just go for it and be prepared to learn about the culture alongside the language.

“It can open doors and create new opportunities for you. It can allow you to meet new people and connect authentically and in mana enhancing ways.”

Keen to learn more? Check out this piece Terewai worked with us on in common kupu in disability. https://firstport.co.nz/about-disability/disability-support-services/maori-disability-guide