Hello, my name is Cheryl. This is my name sign. I am from Matamata.
Thinking back, a long time ago, my parents never taught me Maori words so for all these years I never knew about Maori culture. I knew I wanted to know more.
Then one day one friend picked me up and took me to a hui and oh, whoa it hit me, my jaw dropped, it was incredible. I learnt information I had never known because no one told me. Shame on them!
So from that hui onwards I learnt and learnt so much - like a sponge. I feel myself filling up, I was learning to understand who I am. I kept doing more Maori activities, kapa haka, Maori words, learning so much. Thinking about sign language, how it works with Maori words and English words. Using sign language to work out what the Maori words mean. Then I could understand and it all made more sense to me.
I want more. I want to extend what I’ve learnt so far. I want to focus on Maori words in sign language not English.
All good.
