He whare hou ki Te Wānanga o Aotearoa mō tēnei Kīngi | King of the castle finds new home at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa
If your house is your castle, then Qalandar Skeandar must feel like a king.
The 44-year-old picked up the tools last year to build a house as part of his Te Wānanga o Aotearoa carpentry programme, and has no plans to put them down.
"Every day I see the growth of Auckland and what good it will bring for the future," says the father of three.
"I want to be in this business."
From Tajikistan, in the former Soviet Union, Qalandar came to New Zealand with his family in 2009.
Although equipped with a Masters' Degree in advertising from a University in Moscow, he was unable to speak any English.
After getting some language tuition, Qalandar first came to Te Wānanga o Aotearoa in 2012, to take the Level 2 First Steps to Business programme.
It was this positive learning experience that brought him back through the doors a few years later to ask about working in the building industry.
He talked to John Olo-Whaanga, kaiako for the Certificate in Applied Technology, majoring in carpentry. He liked what he heard and enrolled.
"I understood John and I knew he was a good teacher and a good person," says Qalandar.
Through the Level 4 programme - located at Ngā Whare Waatea in Māngere - Qalandar became acquainted with the health and safety aspects of the building industry, including legislation and compliance.
He was also taught how to operate power, portable and hand tools used in the construction process, but the tangible hands-on tuition came in the form of building a single level, timber framed, relocatable house with his class mates.
"The boys - 17, 18, 19 - they were smart boys," he says.
"It was not easy but yes it's been worthwhile. Every day I would get better and the teachers, they're like your friends. All the staff are good. From the managers to the receptionist."
But the best part of the experience, he says, is being that much closer to owning his own business working in construction in Auckland.
He's re-enrolled with Te Wānanga o Aotearoa once again but this time it's for a Level 4 Certificate in English Language so that he can take his building study even further and commit to a Bachelor in Construction Management in the near future.
"I would do it here if I could because I like it here. Here, the feeling is good."
Pūrongo whakahirahira
Featured stories
Te Wānanga o Aotearoa launches new reo Māori programmes to help te reo thrive for generations to come
For over four decades, Te Wānanga o Aotearoa has created pathways for generations of tauira to learn, speak, teach and live te reo Māori. That legacy has supported the return of te reo Māori to everyday life, from whānau learning their first kupu, to tauira carrying reo onto marae, and into workplaces, classrooms and homes.
Turning a passion for rongoā into community healing
Rongoā Māori has always been part of Patricia Tangira-Falwasser's life, but it was her studies at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa that deepened her knowledge and inspired her to start a business that now serves her wider community.
Te Wānanga o Aotearoa kaimahi claims gold at Waka Ama World Championship
Ken Henry (Te Whakatōhea, Waikato-Tainui) is a Tauira Support Advisor at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa Whakatāne campus who took home gold at the Waka Ama World Championships in Singapore in August.
A passion for taonga Māori takes Chanel to Oxford
What started as a desire to strengthen her reo Māori has taken Chanel Coromandel (Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Apakura, Ngāti Whanaunga) on an unexpected path, leading to an opportunity to contribute to the care and preservation of taonga Māori at the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford, England.
Reconnecting to te ao Māori through raranga
Haylee Roussel (Ngāti Rārua, Rangitāne, Ngāti Maniapoto) was searching for a way to reconnect with te ao Māori when she enrolled in the Certificate in Māori and Indigenous Art, Raranga, at the Waiwhero campus of Te Wānanga o Aotearoa.
A journey shaped by whānau and a love of tamariki
Members of Tayla-Marie Takawe’s (Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Maniapoto) whānau were among the first tauira to graduate from the Bachelor of Education (Primary Teaching) at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa.
Finding a deeper sense of self through te ao Māori
Moving to Aotearoa from rural Australia as a teenager, Lily Warring found herself wanting to learn more about the culture and language of the place she now called home.
Creating the spark for business success
With plenty of experience as an electrician, Josh Verstraten was ready to branch out from employee to business owner, but he knew running a successful business would require a new set of skills.
From financial stress to financial freedom for Auckland whānau
For Augustine Kopa, studying the Certificate in Money Management at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa was about creating a better future for her whānau.
Two generations, one reo Māori journey
When Melody Francis (Ngāti Kahungunu) saw the positive impact that studying te reo Māori had on her mum, she decided to jump on the waka and begin the journey alongside her.
