Te Ora Hou is a network of faith-based youth and community development organisations working with young people, their whanau and communties in many places across Aotearoa.

We have been operating all over New Zealand for over 30 years. Over this period Te Ora Hou has had projects in most of the main urban centres and many provincial and rural communities as well. Hundreds of people connected to Te Ora Hou have led many different projects and services working with thousands of young people and families.

Through all of this we have learnt some things and hold on tight to the stuff that seems most important to us.

We are passionate about what we do and why we do it.

What makes us distinctive…

• We are indigenous to Aotearoa
• We are faith based
• We are focused on young people in the context of their whanau and communities
• We are committed to serving and volunteerism
• We are committed to building long-term quality relationships
• We are committed to the principles and practice of social justice
• We are committed to learning from what we do and from others
  

What we believe…

We believe people are created to realise their God-given potential and sometimes they need someone to help them realise that potential.

We see great wisdom in the tikanga passed down from our tupuna and want to pass this on to future generations. We value Te Reo, the language of our people and want to nurture and develop it.

We find inspiration in the life-changing power that faith in Christ has brought to people throughout history. We find strength, comfort and courage in our faith - which we share with anyone interested - but we don’t force it onto others.

We do not claim to be experts or miracle workers - but we have learnt some things and are committed to doing the best we can with the resources and networks available and the collective skills and experience we share.

We are not committed to growing a big organisation - small is often beautiful, keeps us connected to our neighbourhoods and responsive to the changing needs as they arise.

We love our neighbourhoods and are committed to seeing them become happy, healthy places that people are proud to be associated with.

How we work…

The emerging Te Ora Hou Model of Practice is known as MAIA. It is adapted from two independent conceptual frameworks for understanding indigenous peoples health and development.

The Circle of Courage is attributed to Lakota Sioux traditions of the Medicine Wheel that has four key factors that are present for healthy transition of young people from childhood to adulthood: Belonging; Mastery; Independence and Generosity.

Professor Mason Durie's Whanau Capacity framework suggests six factors of a healthy whanau: Manaakitanga; Whakatakato Tikanga; Whakamana; Whakawhanaungatanga; Whakamau Tikanga and Pupuri Taonga.

These two models have been combined to provide a more comprehensive framework for rangatahi Maori within the AWHI (Au, Whanau, Hapu, Iwi) schema and underpinned by national and international agreements such as the Youth Development Strategy Aotearoa, UNCROC and UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Plans are in place for national and local workshops on the MAIA model over the first half of 2008. And new assessment, monitoring and evaluation tools for the model are currently being developed by national staff in consultation with local centres.