Whakamaua te pae tata kia tina - Take hold of your potential so it becomes your reality.

We have partnered with NASA this year and they have offered our Otara rangatahi via The O.Y.H their last 16 spaces in their Advanced Space Camp - Expedition 49, Aug 26 - Sep 3, 2023. As part of our annual Travel & Exploration program under The Otara Youth Hub, our Ōtara rangatahi will be given the opportunity to become fully immersed in all aspects of STEM in a 7-Day advanced Space Camp at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center based in Huntsville, Alabama, USA.

So we are fundraising to help cover the costs of return airfares and space camp fees.

They will explore the scientific concepts behind space and space travel in a uniquely immersive and hands-on way, while also being an important team bonding experience & leadership development. Youth will share dorms, eat and socialise with students from all over the world during their time at Space Camp. Their daily sessions will be interactive and promote STEM learning as well as team building, leadership, problem solving and confidence. They will assume the role of astronauts in a simulated space flight, sit in a chair that mimics the feeling of walking on the moon, use a gimbal that astronauts use for cardiovascular training, and more.

We hope to see this opportunity ignite a passion & raise awareness for STEM subjects - science, technology, engineering, maths and inspire more of our local Maori & Pacific young people into STEM tertiary study and careers. Māori and Pacific youth, more than any other population group, are streamed out of science education early in secondary school, making them ineligible to continue with science at senior levels. Young people are also more likely to transition into jobs that are like their parents, or their parents’ social network. For some Māori, this means generations of freezing workers or labourers. We also know that by 2030 most jobs will require some level of STEM competency.

We have 4 staff that will travel with the cohort to Space camp. One of our staff is the incredible Nadeen Papalii who attended Space camp just before lockdown. She is a champion educator and proponent of STEM learning for our Otara community. We would love to see more of our local young people represented in this sector, STEM!

We are descendants of explorers, discoverers and innovators who used their knowledge to traverse distant horizons and achieve advances for our people and their future journeys and encounters.

>>> Whaia te pae tawhiti kia tata - Explore beyond the distant horizon and draw it near.