Local Hauora Heroes
Dr Charlotte Mildon
AIO Healing
Kia Ora! Ko wai au?
I te taha o tōku whaea, ko Tuhirangi te maunga, ko Tutaekuri te awa, ko Ngāti Hinepare me Ngāti Maahu ngā hapū, ko Moteo te marae. Nō Ahuriri ia.
I te taha o tōku papa, ko Whakapunake te maunga, ko Te Wairoa Hōpūpū, ko Hōnengenenge Matangi rau te awa, ko Ngāti Hinganga te hapū, ko Puutahi te marae. Nō Wairoa ia.
Ko Horouta me Takitimu ōku waka. Ko Ngāti Hinemanuhiri, ko Rongomaiwāhine, ko Ngāti Porou, ko Ngāti Ruapani me Ngāti Kahungunu ōku iwi. Kei Pukehamomoa au e noho ana.
What is your hauora kaupapa about? What inspired you to get involved with this kaupapa?
A key finding in my doctoral research was that traditional Māori healing rituals and practices are a ‘way of living’ rather than just being a healing modality for when you are māuiui.
My whakapapa claims descent from a long line of Tohunga kuia and Tohunga koroua. Being mentored by experts informed my traditional Māori healing practice that has extended over 30 years. I had no choice learning from these Tohunga and Tohuna as they chose me to teach not the other way around because they could see what I would do with the mātauranga. Unbeknown to me at the time, I was blessed to be mentored by internationally acclaimed priests and priestesses like Tohuna Dr Pere (17 years), Tohunga romiromi Atarangi Muru (12 years), Tohunga Ahurewa (priest/ess of a higher order) Joe De La Mere (2 years) and Manu Korewha (10 years) and Tohunga Matekite Pineaha Murray (2 years) as well as the Tohunga Rongoā Te Awhina Riwaka (2 years) and Tohunga Rongoā Tom Maraki (5 years).
Experts of this caliber provided me with the skills to understand how to heal whaiora using deeply spiritual rituals like for instance, matekitetanga, wairuatanga, romiromi, mirimiri and rongoā Māori. Their ongoing mentoring both in the physical and the spiritual realms, enabled me to work effectively with high needs whānau suffering from spiritual afflictions like mate Māori, mate pōrangi, mate haurangi, and mate mākutu. Also, I had learned to heal a vast range of mental health diseases, long-term chronic diseases and injuries, incurable disorders, addictions, spiritual imbalances, domestic violence, eating disorders and sexual abuse.
In your opinion, what are the biggest hauora challenges whānau Māori are facing in the wider Hawke’s Bay area? What do we need to do to improve this?
My most recent publication ‘Rongoā Māori report for High Needs Whānau in Ahuriri’ is soon to be released. It outlines how Ngāti Kahungunu have the highest negative health and mental health statistics in Aotearoa. In light of this, hauora for me is about role modelling a better ‘way of living’ for our mokopuna to stop the cycle of intergenerational trauma. To maintain holistic wellbeing for our whānau, it is vital to clean the body’s systems, make necessary dietary changes, seek out natural healing rongoā remedies and be aware of using the traditional Māori healing processes of romiromi when needed.
If you could change one thing for the wellbeing of whānau Māori in our rohe, what would it be?
My vision is to provide fully funded traditional Māori healing services, led by authentic Tohunga who whakapapa to Ngāti Rongomaiwāhine and Ngāti Kahungunu and have been mentored by reputable Tohunga for many decades. Once the equilibrium for whaiora is restored, they are encouraged to bring their entire whānau to traditional Māori healing wānanga to maintain holistic well-being at home. My charitable trust coordinates traditional Māori healing romiromi and rongoā wānanga in our local community and the positive outcomes for the whaiora and their whānau, is life changing.
What does tino rangatiratanga mean to you in relation to health and wellbeing?
Ki au nei, tino rangatiratanga is about connecting to te taiao as our whakapapa, acknowledging both the female and male Atua as personified spiritual phenomena of nature, who according to my teachers, both Tohuna and Tohunga, are at the source of all healing. In my experience, when the whānau normalise natural rongoā remedies, romiromi and spiritual healing practices in the home, the younger members of the whānau are able to grasp this mātauranga at an early age, resulting in them being fluent in the ancestral ways of healing, for life. Tihei Mauri Ora!
What is your favourite whakataukī relating to health and wellness and why?
He Whakataukī: Kia mahi tahi ki te waihoe – working together for future generations
Māori Health Index
WAIROA
Kahungunu Executive
Kaupapa
- Mobile nursing
- Mobile clinic
- Te Ara Waiora Clinic
- Tamariki Ora
- Hao te Rangatahi
- Social Services
- Hinengaro Services
Hauora Maioha
Kaupapa
- Karakia
- Mirimiri
- Support and advocacy services
Contact: Work on a referral from GP or Māori Health provider out of Wairoa Hospital
Wairoa Taiwhenua
Kaupapa
- Wairoa Foodbank
- Whakapapa Research Enquiries
- Alternative Education
- Whānau Engagement
Contact: (06) 838 4748
Queen St Medical Centre
Low Cost Practice
Kaupapa
- GP Services
- Nursing Services
- Immunisations
- Disability Services
- COVID-19 support
Contact: (06) 838 8333
Te Whare Maire
Kaupapa
- Social Services
- Welfare Support
Address: Cnr Locke and Queen Streets, Wairoa 4108
Waiora Meals on Wheels
Kaupapa
Supplies lunches to households and elderly people seven days a week.
Contact: 06 838 7099 (ext 4842 – Nikky Turipa)
Health Care Centre Ltd
Low Cost Practice
Kaupapa
- Community & Rehabilitation
- Nursing Services
- Disability Services
- Mental Health & Wellbeing
- Social Services
Contact: 0800 002 722
Wairoa Health
Low Cost Practice
Kaupapa
- Emergency Dept, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
- Maternity services
- Specialist outpatient clinics — Cardiology, Renal, Neurology, Dermatology, Orthopaedics, Vascular, Gynae/obstet, Colposcopy, Urology, Ear Nose & Throat, Orthoptics.
- Laboratory/testing services
- Radiology (x-ray) services
- Mental health and addiction services
- Community and district nursing services
Contact: 06 838 7099
AHURIRI / NAPIER
BACKYARD MOTIV8TION
Te Taiwhenua o Te Whanganui ā Orotu
Kaupapa
- Wāhine Ora
- Jobs for Nature
- Rangatahi support
Contact: admin@taiwhenua.com
Website: https://www.taiwhenua.com/
Te Kupenga Hauora
Kaupapa
- Nursing
- Free Health Checks
- Emergency Housing
- Family Start
- Stop Smoking
- Whānau Ora
- Youth Services
- Suicide Prevention
Contact: 06 835 1840
Youth LIFT
Kaupapa
- Employment Support
- Drivers License Support
- Employment Placements
Website: https://pursuitnz.com/about.html
Maraenui Medical Centre
Low Cost Practices
Kaupapa
- GP Services
- Nursing Services
- Allied Health
- Pharmacy onsite
Contact: (06) 843 8010
Website: https://www.maraenuimedicalcentre.com/
Chloe Katene
Awhina Whānau Services
Kaupapa
- Individual, Tamariki & Whānau Counselling
- Healthy relationships & Non-violence programmes
- Trauma & abuse support
- Tamariki & Rangatahi programmes
Contact: 0800 1 WHĀNAU (0800 194 2628)
Website: https://awhinawhanauservices.org
Springhill Services
Kaupapa
Provides a structured eight-week residential environment for motivated adults committed to overcoming addiction. Referrals to the centre must be made by a Drug and Alcohol Counsellor.
Contact: 06 873 4896
Roopu a Iwi Trust
Kaupapa
- Caregiver support for whānau
- Welfare Packs
- COVID-19 Support
- Social Services
- Oranga Rangatahi
- Paiheretia Te Muka Tangata
- Pakeke Raising Mokopuna
- Whānau Care Services
- Rongoā Services
- Strengthening Families
Contact: 06 843 1590
HASTINGS
AIO Healing
Dr Charlotte Mildon
Kaupapa
- Mirimiri
- Rongoā
- Te Oomai Reia Romiromi
- Nutrition
- PT
Contact: 027 557 5002
Māwhiti Ora
Kaupapa
- Provide safe/confidential space for whitiwhiti kōrero
- Mirimiri
- Knowledge of kai pai (high-vibration food)
- Wairākau (plant-based tonics)
- Whatu kakahū (traditional weaving techniques)
Website: https://mawhitiora.weebly.com/
One Voice Community Services Trust
Kaupapa
- Support workers – physical, mental emotional, disability
- Domestic violence and sexual abuse support
- Suicide prevention
- Safe housing
Rush Fit
Xtreme Hip Hop With The Henryz
Kaupapa
- Hip Hop dance classes
- Free step classes for whānau
- Personal training
Te Taiwhenua o Heretaunga
Kaupapa
- Practice Plus Virtual Consult
- GP Services
- Nursing Services
- Pharmacy Services
- Immunisations
- Free Health Coaching
- Respiratory Clinic
- Sexual Health
- Quit-smoking support
- Mental Wellbeing
- Counselling
- Travel vaccines
- Heart-health assessments
- Cervical checks
- Contraception
- Diabetes care
Contact: 0800 TAIWHENUA
Ikaroa Rangatahi Social Services
Kaupapa
- Abuse and violence support
- Counselling and therapy
- Social work
- Youth Support (Alternative Action)
- Pou Amo
- Residential Care
- Supported Flexi-Bail
- Tiaki Tangata – Reintegration service
- Support with alcohol and drug dependency
- Pregnancy and parenting
- LGBTQIA+ friendly
Contact: (06) 879 9495. Walk-in’s available during business hours
Kaimiri Healing
Tōtara Health
Kaupapa
- Low-cost GP & nursing services
Contact: 0800 222 757
Website: https://www.totarahealth.co.nz/
lnnov8 Group Ltd
Kaupapa
- Counselling services
- Holiday Programmes
- Ready2Rent workshops
- Youth transition services
Contact: admin@innov8group.co.nz
Website: https://www.innov8grouplimited.com/current-services
Te Timatanga Ararau Trust
Kaupapa
- Mobility Action Program
- Green Prescription
- Active families
Contact: 0800 662 7746, 068459333, 06-845 9336
Hastings Health Centre
Kaupapa
- Māori & Pacific Health Provider
- GPs
- Urgent Care
- Pharmacy
Contact: 06 873 8999
Website: https://hastingshealth.co.nz/special-services/maori-and-pacific-health/
Flaxmere Boxing Academy
Hikoi4Life
Kaupapa
- High-intensity fitness classes
- Onsite medical and psychological expertise from Māori practitioners
- Dedicated E Tū Whānau and administration spaces
- PTs
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Hikoi4Life
MOANA - Massage & Natural Remedies
Kaupapa
- Massage therapy (sports, pregnancy, hot rocks)
- Reflexology
- Mirimiri
Contact: moananepia@yahoo.co.nz
PolyActive HB
Kaupapa
- Free medium-high intensity workouts
- Personal trainers
- Aerobic dance
- Bboxing classes
Website: https://polyactive.co.nz/
Soul Massage
Kaupapa
Capryce has a background in Care work for people with disabilities ranging from Autism, Tetraplegia, Cerebral Palsy, Downs Syndrome and is currently still working in this field.
- Traditional Māori healing – Romiromi and Mirimiri
Website: https://www.soulmassage.co.nz/
Kahungunu Health & Community Services (Choices)
Kaupapa
- GP
- Nurses and Midwives
- Counsellor / Social Worker
- Lifestyle Coaches
- Rongoā and Mirimiri Practitioner
- Smokefree Educator
- Kaiāwhina
- Early Childcare Teachers and Educators
- Reintegration Facilitators
- Whare Matua
- Pregnancy testing
- Hapū Mama classes
- School-based nursing services
- Auahi Kore – Smoke-free programme
- Sexual health promotion and referral
- Breast and cervical screening
- Immunisation
- LARCs
- Kaiāwhina support
- Free contraception
Contact: 0508 942 628
Website: https://kahungunuhealthservices.maori.nz/
Pursuit Rangatahi Services
Kaupapa
- Pre-employment support
- Interview Prep
- Confidence Workshops
- Pastoral Care and Support
- Social media Tikanga
- Basic digital skills
- CV & Cover Letter Creation
- Internships & cadetships
Contact: 06 879 4538
Website: https://pursuitnz.com/about.html
Nevertheless Rainbow Hub
Kaupapa
- Māori, Pasifika and Takatāpui Rainbow+ mental health
Hauora Heretaunga Medical & Injury
Kaupapa
- Kaupapa Māori GP Services
- Practice Plus Virtual Consult
- Cervical Screening
- Immunisations
- Long Acting Reversible Contraception (LARC)
Contact: (06) 871 5352
Te Wahanga Māori Health
Kaupapa
Wide range of services available
Contact: 0800 333 671
Te Rangi Haeata Oranga Trust
Kaupapa
- Gambling recovery services
Contact: 06 876 6267
CENTRAL HAWKE'S BAY
Hastings Health Centre
Kaupapa
- General medical clinic
Contact: 06 858 9559
The Doctors Waipawa
Kaupapa
- GP services
- Nursing services
- Cervical Screening
- Immunisations
- COVID-19 support
Contact: (06) 857 8507
Tuki Tuki Medical
Kaupapa
- GP services
- Nursing services
- Cervical Screening
- Immunisations
- COVID-19 support
- Disability Assistance
Contact: (06) 858 7767
Local Hauora Heroes
Jackson Waerea
Project PATU
Jackson Waerea, Director and founder of Patu Heretaunga, is a proud father of three beautiful tamariki, with whakapapa ties to Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Toa and Ngāi Tahu.
Waerea was one of the founding creators of PATU Aotearoa, an exercise programme aimed at improving the fitness and health of Māori and Pasifika people. Since its creation the kaupapa has evolved, with Waerea now directing PATU Heretaunga which focuses on broader hauora initiatives and programmes. With the difficulties of COVID lockdowns and the devastation of Cyclone Gabrielle, PATU Heretaunga has grown to meet the needs of locals, with their programme Project PATU focusing on supporting young people.
Through his mahi Jackson spends his days passing on his passion for exercise to rangatahi, connecting them with the taiao and whakapapa in order to support their development, giving them skills that will support their whānau for generations to come. We sat down with Jackson for a kōrero about Project PATU, his driving forces and his aspirations for our people.
1. Project PATU is such an awesome whānau-centric kaupapa, how has your own upbringing led to your involvement and mahi in the hauora space?
Our whãnau are from Bridge Pa but we were raised in Flaxmere. Growing up in Flaxmere, a lot of our friends used sports and exercise as an outlet, over the years it grew into a passion and motivation for improving the wellbeing of our whãnau.
2. What is Project PATU about? What inspired you to get involved with this kaupapa?
Project PATU, is a 6-week rangatahi programme that focuses on 3 pillars: Education, Hauora and Employment. Our programme leans on our hauora pillar as the vehicle to support disengaged youth with education or employment goals. Exercise and activities with a connection to the taiao shape a lot of our daily routines. We use Kahungunu landmarks like our maunga, moana and awa to deliver our mahi. We also gather and process meat, go hunting, diving, fishing & eeling, tend to our maara kai, go foraging, prepare hāngī, and do cooking.
The hauora space has always appealed to me because as children we were lucky to be connected to our marae and all of the things happening around it. We were taught the core values of pride, honour and respect at the marae and how to manaaki our visitors through kai and aroha. These simple values I apply to my daily mahi and hauora spaces I’m involved with.
3. What is your favourite thing about your mahi? What keeps you going?
I’m very grateful I get to do this mahi for a living. There is no greater wealth than helping our people — I couldn’t be any richer.
4. If you could change one thing for the wellbeing of whānau Māori in our rohe, what would it be?
I would give our whānau the self-belief that anything is possible regardless of our situation, especially our rangatahi. There is so much potential in the minds and hearts of our Kahungunu rangatahi. We just need to give them the tools and support to achieve it.
5. What does tino rangatiratanga mean to you in relation to health and wellbeing?
Tino rangatiratanga means being in control of our own hauora. Celebrating the smalls wins not just in physical health but in everyday things.
6. What is your favourite quote relating to health and wellness?
“Mahi don’t stop!”
To keep up to date with Jackson and the awesome mahi his team are doing at PATU Heretaunga, follow them on Facebook: PATU Heretaunga
Iwi-Māori partnership boards Māori Health Authority
Iwi-Māori partnership boards (IMPBs) are a key feature in the new health reforms, with decision making roles at a local level, and jointly agreed local priorities and delivery with Te Whatu Ora.
Currently, eleven iwi-Māori partnership boards have been formally recognised under the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Act 2022(external link):
- Te Taumata Hauora Te Kahu o Taonui IMPB, Tai Tokerau & Tāmaki
- Te Moana a Toi IMPB, Mataatua
- Tairāwhiti Toitū Te Ora IMPB, Tairāwhiti
- Te Taura Ora ō Waiariki IMPB, Te Arawa
- Tūwharetoa IMPB, Tūwharetoa
- Te Punanga Ora IMPB, Taranaki
- Te Mātuku IMPB, Whanganui
- Tihei Tākitimu IMPB, Takitimu Hawkes Bay
- Te Pae Oranga o Ruahine o Tararua IMPB, Manawatū
- Te Karu o te Ika Poari Hauora IMPB, Wairarapa
- Āti Awa Toa IMPB, Greater Wellington/Hutt
Further iwi-Māori partnership boards are working their way through the formal recognition process.
IMPBs are the primary source of whānau voice in the system and influence regional strategies through Te Aka Whai Ora:
- They will create an authentic vision and strategies for addressing their shared concerns and solutions to improve the health system
- They will enable iwi, hapū and whānau to exercise rangatiratanga in their rohe
- They ensure tangata whenua voices are heard and local health services reflect those who need and use them
- This will help build a stronger Māori workforce, support the growth in capability and capacity of hauora Māori healthcare providers, and encourage more innovation in services that deliver better outcomes for Māori.
How IMPBs work
Iwi-Māori partnership boards are legislatively recognised to ensure Māori governance in the determination of health priorities for iwi and Māori across localities.
The changes arising from the health reforms establish a localities approach that ensures health services are organised in a way that makes sense to the geographic communities they service.
Under the locality governance – led by IMPBs and community leaders – localities work with communities and local primary care, community providers, local social care services and local government to improve service delivery and Māori health and wellbeing outcomes.
- A key focus for Te Aka Whai Ora will be working with IMPBs to ensure services are being designed to meet local context in each locality and to recognise the unique mana whenua aspirations in each rohe (region)
- IMPBs will voice the aspirations and priorities of Māori communities, agree locality plans and influence regionally through their relationship with Te Aka Whai Ora.
SOURCE | Te Aka Whai Ora – Iwi-Māori partnership boards | Māori Health Authority (teakawhaiora.nz)
Tihei Tākitimu Partnership Board announced - BayBuzz
The inaugural Iwi-Māori Partnership Board has been chosen that will play a vital role in the design and delivery of health services for Hawke’s Bay under the newly-reformed health system.
The eight-member Board known as Tihei Tākitimu Partnership Board (TTPB) will work closely with the Māori Health Authority and Health NZ assessing the health needs of whānau, identifying priorities and monitoring the services provided.
Waylyn Tahuri-Whaipakanga, chairperson of the Board’s Establishment Steering Group and CEO of Te Taiwhenua o Heretaunga, says the TTPB, which is a mix of iwi members, mātāwaka (from other tribal groupings outside HB) and health professionals, “shares a commitment and dedication to improving Māori health with a strong community focus.”
The Board members are:
Beverly Te Huia – Chair for Ngā Maia Māori Midwives Aotearoa and member of Midwife Choices;
Darryn Russell – Chief Executive at Heretaunga Tamatea Settlement;
Lewis Ratapu – (interim chair) General Manager Tatau Tatau o te Wairoa;
Coralee Thompson – Advisor Māori Health at Health Hawke’s Bay;
Kerri Nuku – Kaiwhakahaere (Governance Leader) for the New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO);
Heather Skipworth – Founder of IronMāori and former HBDHB Board Member;
Henry Heke – General Manager, Māori Health, Health Hawke’s Bay;
Tania Eden – CEO at Te Whanganui a Orotū.
Source | Bay Buzz – Tihei Tākitimu Partnership Board announced – BayBuzz