Sabrina Puia - Manaakitanga
16 July 2018
Yay!
We made $50 in our first 24 hours of launching our #312GIVEALITTLE Fundraising Campaign! A huge mihi to all those who liked, shared, retweeted and donated. But let’s not lose the momentum! Over the next couple of weeks, we will share stories with you on what your investment will be invested into with a series stories from our 312 Hub whānau… starting with one of the more familiar faces of the space.. Our girl Sabrina (Sophia Puia-Schwalger)!
Born and raised in the heart of Auckland, New Zealand. From the family homestead that still stands in Ponsonby to Glen Innes where the sun rises to her teenage years in Orākei and Pakuranga, Sabrina now resides between both her worlds, here in Onehunga.
Groomed and nurtured by a culturally strong village, Sabrina’ pays homage to her blood ties to Aitutaki and Ireland through her father’s lines and her mother's lines to Rarotonga, Aitu, Aitutaki and Samoa. Sabrina lives and breathes her upbringing through her love for people, culture and most importantly through manaakitanga, serving and uplifting the mana of others. With 15 years experience within the Hospitality industry, Sabrina has a wealth of knowledge in serving others from training new staff to running a cafe to working with large teams as big as Big Day Out. She has become the common face in many of our local cafe’s here in Onehunga since living in Australia for five years as a young adult.
Today, Sabrina is the face of The 312 Hub and a living example of Manaakitanga, one of our three guiding principles of the Treaty of Waitangi. 'Mana' can mean power, influence or spiritual power and goes hand in hand with tapu, one affecting the other. 'Aki' meaning 'to encourage, urge on, challenge, induce, incite or exhort'. Ki te - meaning 'to' and Tanga meaning division, company, relay (of people), reinforcement. As a reflection of this role, Sabrina shares:
“The 312 Hub, my home, my space of safety and creativity. Helping hand in shaping what the hub will look like and represent for the generations to come. The 312 hub is everything I never knew I needed. Teaching me what I never knew I needed to learn, about culture, creativity, change and community. Onehunga is my new found home and I hope to become a part of the community that is fighting against its ever-changing face, to stand beside those who reign from the neighbourhood. The 312 Hub is my home.”
Sabrina’s heart of gold, selflessness and ability to serve others is fitting for her to become our full time Manaakitanga manager and is responsible for all of our experiences with people from our kuia and kaumatua to our bubbas. This love and selflessness can also be found in her little homemade soy wax candles business called Scentsitive & Co, hand poured with love.
To donate to The 312 Hub, please click the link below.
Photo credit: Pati Solomona Tyrell.