When I was a kid, I lived in New Zealand. We didn’t have much. I remember spending days in nature, in the bush, on the beaches, and usually without shoes on. I have wonderful memories of my childhood there, but one experience remains the most pivotal of my life.

In 1989 I had the privilege of sincere and welcoming experiences with the Māori people of Kaitupeka marae in rural King Country. Here I learned three things that would change the way I experienced the world for the rest of my life: how to speak from the heart, the true role of ceremony, and what a place of belonging, or Tūrangawaewae, can mean to a nomad like myself. I had the exceptional privilege of participating in several powhiri, both as manuhiri and as whanau, but there is one proverb that I heard in my time at the marae which has resonated with me ever since: “He aha te mea nui o te ao? He tangata, he tangata, he tangata.”

This translates to “What is the most important thing in the world? It is the people, it is the people, it is the people”. I have always cherished this seemingly obvious reminder of what and how we should live and treat each other.

As I seek out new visions to support, I want to understand people, their passions, their projects, and help them accelerate their contributions to humanity. Truly a consequence of experience and lessons from those days on Kaitupeka marae and I would like to honor that.

– Cameron