Scholarships

He Kōrero Whakanuia mō te Karahipi Maanu Paul – A Tribute in Maanu’s Own Words 

Ka whiti te rā ki runga i a Papatūānuku, ka whiti hoki ki runga i a tātou katoa – when we warm the soil, we warm the people. 
— Maanu Paul, 2017 (landcareresearch.co.nz) 

“Why put Maanu’s name to our scholarship?” 

“Ehara tēnei i te kōrero mōku anake. It’s about opening doors for the next generation of Māori thinkers who will stand with the soil, the kai and the people.” 
— Maanu Paul 

When Fruition Horticulture approached the Paul whānau to rename its existing Māori Learners’ Scholarship in Maanu’s honour, the answer was immediate: “Yes, Maanu would be honoured”. The award already focused on lifting Māori participation in the Level 6 Fruition Diploma in Horticultural Production a kaupapa that sits squarely inside Maanu’s lifelong mission of hua parakore, soil sovereignty and community wellbeing . 

A deeply personal link with Fruition’s Managing Director, Sandy Scarrow 

Sandy Scarrow first met Maanu in the early 1990s, when the pair worked side by side converting an earthquake damaged Poroporo kiwifruit block into a certified organic orchard. They became personal friends. 

Yet the bond ran deeper. Years earlier, Maanu had taught Sandy’s older brother, Rob, at secondary school. Rob had struggled to find his place in the mainstream system, but Maanu’s classroom was different. He met Rob “exactly where he stood,” weaving whakapapa, whenua and hands-on experiences so that learning felt real – something Sandy never forgot. 

“Education thrives when you recognise the mana already in the learner” —  

Maanu Paul 
 

This is what the scholarship must do. Naming the scholarship after Maanu is therefore Sandy’s tribute both to her colleague in the orchard and to the teacher who changed her brother’s life. 

Carrying forward a teacher’s legacy 

Maanu began his professional life as a surveyor but retrained in the 1970s, eventually teaching at Hamilton Boys’ High School. He believed secondary education was a critical staging ground for rangatahi Māori: 

“If a student can see their whenua on the blackboard, they’ll see their future beyond it.” 

That same philosophy informs the scholarship design. Recipients are nominated by their iwi or hapū and are paired with a Fruition kaiārahi for ongoing mentoring  – mirroring the one-to-one guidance Maanu once gave Rob. 

Endorsement from the Paul whānau 

Gwenda Paul and her tamariki describe the gesture as he taonga tuku iho—a gift passed down: 

“Maanu would be humbled to know his name now helps other whānau into higher learning. He measured success by the number of hands in the soil, not the number of headlines.” 
— Gwenda Paul 

The family’s blessing ensures the scholarship is not merely commemorative, but living. 

Closing words from Maanu 

“Kia mau ki te whenu o te whenua, hold fast to the strands of the land.” If this scholarship helps even one Māori learner do that, then the Fruition team are sure that the koha of Maanu’s name adds value. 

By weaving personal gratitude, professional partnership and iwi led aspiration, Fruition Horticulture’s Maanu Paul Scholarship stands as both a memorial and a seedbed – cultivating the next generation of Māori horticultural leaders while honouring the teacher who showed that soil is the mother we must protect. 

E kore koe e warewaretia, e te rangatira.