As our Growing the Puna 2025/26 Water Safety Content Creator, Kaahurere MacKay stepped into the space where kaupapa meets creativity. Kaahu's role was not just to capture moments, but to translate them, to transform wānanga, learning, laughter, and serious safety kōrero into visual stories that whānau and rangatahi could see, feel, and connect with.

At the Kauora Ahurei Wānanga, Kaahu documented the day through photography, capturing kaimahi facilitation, highlighting rangatahi characters, tamariki joy, and the energy of Kauora. His lens honoured both the technical skill and the wairua of the kaupapa. These images now sit ready to support reporting, storytelling, and future promotion as visual memories of kaupapa in action.

He also produced a series of Instagram reels for the Kauora platform, including a dynamic highlights reel, an engaging Ngā Ture pool safety reel featuring kaimahi, and a welcoming kaimahi introduction reel. Through these short-form videos, water safety messaging becomes more accessible, relatable, and aligned to rangatahi digital spaces.

His second major kaupapa supported the Kahungunu Water Safety Wānanga. Here, Kaahu extended his skills into resource design, contributing to the visual layout and graphic elements of the Water Safety resource. During the wānanga, he again documented both theory and practice, later producing two reels: one capturing the overall experience, and another weaving together wānanga footage, national water safety statistics, and key prevention messaging.

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The educational reel in particular highlighted something powerful: this mahi is not just about swimming skills, it is about reclaiming water spaces, reducing drowning risk, and delivering culturally grounded water safety that speaks directly to our communities.

Kaahu’s internship reminds us that digital storytelling is not an “add-on” to kaupapa Māori health promotion - it is an essential tool. Through his creative presence, he has strengthened how our water safety kaupapa are seen, understood, and shared.

His work will continue to ripple outward, increasing visibility, supporting future promotion, and helping whānau engage with lifesaving knowledge in ways that feel accessible and real.