|
Written by Chani Grieve
Kia ora e te whānau,
Greetings from your Board of Trustees. Kumanu is our way of keeping you up to date with what has been happening, what we’re working on, and what we’re grappling with. We really appreciate you reading this, and hope it helps you feel connected to what’s going on in this precious corner of the world.
The theme for the Board at the moment seems to be listening to what the land and people need both for now and into the future, clarifying what our base of support is, and seeing if we can widen that. We are needing to take stock and be very clear about what we’re working with, what is needed, and what is actually possible with the resources we have.
On many levels we are all living in a threshold time, an uncomfortable time of disintegration and not-knowing. There is a need to remain open, receptive, “with feet solid in the earth” as Tarchin would say, deeply listening, and ready to respond to the needs of beings from a place of wisdom and compassion. This is what our meditative training, and Wangapeka, is for.
There always seems to be much more to do than there are people, and resources, to do it! Sometimes this feels like an overwhelming responsibility. Other times it feels like a deeply purposeful joy.
As a relatively new Board member, I take heart in this very practical teaching from H.H XIV Dalai Lama –
“If a problem is fixable, if a situation is such that you can do something about it, then there is no need to worry. If it’s not fixable, then there is no help in worrying. There is no benefit in worrying whatsoever.”
I regularly witness the sometimes mysterious ways that Wangapeka survives and thrives, where people just show up at the right time, unexpected gifts are offered, and blessings are revealed.
Somehow, some way, the mauri (life force) of the land, the flow of generosity that moves through it, the vast liberative aspiration of those who have taught and practiced here, and the countless seeds of blessing that have been planted over so many years, offer a protective force that does seem to have a life of its own.
That said, it is still a lot of work for those of us closely involved, to support that field of blessing!
As always we are tremendously grateful for all the support we receive from all our various sub-committees, the Elders, our staff and volunteers, and wider community members.
In this Kumanu you’ll find some of things we’re currently exploring and grappling with. If this moves you to offer, donate, or participate in any way, shape or form, we wholeheartedly welcome that, and encourage you to get in touch with us.
With love, for the speedy awakening of all beings,
Louise, Graham S., Graham P., Ross and Chani
Recent Minutes and Reports
From August and September meetings, and the most recent Treasurer’s report
Can all be found in this folder
What’s been happening:
Farewell Brooke, Welcome Karen
Some of you may have noticed someone new responding to your emails to info@wangapeka.org! A month or so ago, Brooke made the decision to step away from her role as Office Caretaker after nearly 4 years, to focus on her new creative business venture, Mister Chai. We were so fortunate that Karen Harley had recently returned from Australia and was excited to step into this role. Karen’s skills, experience, and commitment to the dharma are an amazing fit for this role. Welcome Karen!
Our enormous thanks to Brooke for being such a steadfast, honest, clear, and dedicated person in that role. Brooke’s motivation to always be willing to do what was best for the centre was a huge support for all of us, and we wish her every success in her new venture.
Mark and Kath are now living at the Centre
as practitioners in residence, to provide a continuity of Dharma study and practice, and to support the ongoing evolution of a community of practice at Wangapeka. We are delighted to have Mark and Kath onsite, and are already enjoying their supportive presence and engagement on the property.
The WET has agreed to cover their food and accommodation costs for the year that they are in residence.
If anyone is inspired to make a donation to contribute to their food costs you can do so into our Westpac bank account 03-0703-0156597-03
with MarkKathFood as the reference.
Winter Activity and Spring Growth
Over Winter and early Spring we have also re-roofed Namgyal hut to have it habitable again, begun the restoration of Unit 1 to ensure the upper units don’t succumb to rot, cleared the debris on the lower stream area from the winter floods, and commenced building a new bridge on the Waterfall track – all thanks to our Land Caretaker Ethan and steadfast Maintenance team! New trees have been planted on the Omahu track, and a new entrance gate is nearing completion, thanks to Chris Petzold who is volunteering a couple of days each week. We have also undergone a new caretaker search for a land caretaker and had Ethan still working on the land 2-3 days a week. We have had the great blessing of having Bonni and Matthew in long retreat for 3 months, and many other retreats humming along, each bringing their unique flavour of participants and practice gifts to the land. Spring growth and energy is palpable, and there have been some cracking thunderstorms and rainbows to delight those underneath.
What we are reckoning with:
We continue to face many challenges, including:
• Ageing core community
• Operational overload on the Board of Trustees
• Ageing (in some cases crumbling!) infrastructure and major repairs and maintenance issues.
• Financial sustainability challenges: rising costs, limited income streams
• Ensuring proper care of our caretakers and volunteers to avoid burnout
• Nurturing and training a new generation of Elders and Teachers to transmit the Dharma
All of this requires a steady stream of creativity and commitment by our core crew.
Maintenance
This is a big one. Wangapeka is of the age now where things are seriously deteriorating. This needs to be a major priority to keep Wangapeka in good shape for years to come.
If you can offer your body, your energy, your skills or resources in any way to the Maintenance team, please get in touch.
Fundraising, fundraising, fundraising!
And on that note, we are going to need to have a major fundraising drive in the next year to support our maintenance projects.
If you have any experience and/or energy to help us kick-start a fundraising campaign, we would love to hear from you!
If you would like to make a donation to Wangapeka, you can do that anytime. Please see details at the end of this Kumanu.
Community Reviews Underway
We are in the process of seeking feedback from all the various groups who currently use Wangapeka, essentially to clarify the needs and wishes of our core community, the centre users, and also to broaden our base of support, both financially and practically, for the centre to thrive. This data will be used to determine what is possible in terms of future use and programming at the centre.
We have also just held a wānanga, a gathering of all the sub-committees and the Board, where we managed to get most members of sub-committees all in one room! It was hugely valuable to share our experiences and whakaaro (thoughts/ideas) with each other, to understand more of the whole from the many facets of perspective that each person has, and to support harmonious communication and functioning between and among the various groups that keep Wangapeka going. We’ll have more to share in future communications, but the picture below shares a sample of our collective questions.
Help Shape Wangapeka’s New Website
Throughout this year Shea Dawson has been working away to build a new registration and event management system for Wangapeka, that will replace the very labour-intensive current system of Excel spreadsheets and manual updates, and thus significantly reduce the administrative load.
It has become clear that this also needs to be supported by, and integrated with, a new website, as our current website has become very slow and cumbersome to use, and doesn’t really do justice to the quality of experience that Wangapeka has to offer. Shea has also offered to build a new website that will carry us forward into the next phase of the centre’s evolution.
We’re reimagining wangapeka.org and your voice matters.
The comms team is gathering perspectives from everyone from board members, elders, subcommittee members and our wider community — to create a website that truly serves everyone who connects with Wangapeka.
Your input will help us:
- Make it easier for newcomers to discover what makes this place special
- Streamline the experience for returning visitors
- Better reflect who we are and what we offer
- Honour our connection to this place and community
A few things to know:
- All questions are optional—answer what resonates, skip what doesn’t
- Take whatever time feels right—5 minutes or 30, both are valuable
- This focuses on the website—event management systems are being actively reviewed and developed separately
- Your responses stay confidential—shared only with the comms team; anonymised summaries available on request
Thank you for your valuable input. |
