Local Hauora Heroes: Levi & Dana Armstrong
Levi & Dana Armstrong
Levi & Dana Armstrong are a couple on a mission to improve health outcomes for their community. They live in Napier, raising their four tamariki alongside their mahi in the health and education sector, from the grassroots to academia. They have been in the hauora space for over 20 years and recently both graduated with a Master’s in Health Science, with Distinction. Together they head up the MEKE Foundation, working with rangatahi and pakeke to help them stay motivated, educated and moving their tinana.
Ko wai kōrua?
Ko Kahuranaki te maunga, ko Poukawa te awa, ko Kahuranaki te marae, ko Takitimu te waka, ko Te Rangikoianake te hapū, ko Ngāti Kahungunu te iwi, nō Heretaunga ahau. Ko Levi Armstrong ahau.
Ko Puketoi te maunga, ko Owahanga te awa, ko Pāpāumā te marae, ko Takitimu te waka, ko Te Hika a Pāpāumā te hapū, ko Ngāti Kahungunu ki tamaki nui a rua te iwi, nō Waipukurau ahau, Ko Dana Armstrong ahau.
What is the MEKE Foundation about? What inspired you to start this kaupapa?
We established the Meke Foundation to improve and support the health, wellbeing and quality of life of rangatahi and whānau in Hawke’s Bay. Enhancing and supporting the overall health and wellbeing of whānau and individuals requires a multi-faceted, whānau ora approach which includes mental, physical and social well-being. This includes delivery of health interventions for rangatahi, whānau and communities in need.
The Meke Foundation provides educational opportunities for rangatahi who are not engaged in education and employment, as well as whānau from highly deprived communities. We are also conducting research and increasing capability throughout the education and health sector by sharing our findings and information to help create strategies and solutions.
You can read more about our research here.
What is your favourite thing about your mahi? What keeps you going?
We love the fact that our rangatahi and whānau want change. Witnessing rangatahi turn up to kura every day is a win. Observing a Māmā turn up to the POD every day, and losing 10kg is a win. Seeing a father stay out of jail and get into mahi is a win. Our people getting those little wins keeps us going. Knowing they are achieving and improving and wanting to get better every day keeps us going. If Māori are winning, Aotearoa is winning. THATSUS!!
What does Hauora mean to you?
Health, fitness and education has shaped who we are as a Māori whānau growing up in Hawkes Bay. We enjoy participating in many sports and love the gym. Following a career path into health and fitness has allowed us to provide for our whanau and lay a strong foundation. Identifying problems and creating solutions for our people has been a huge drive for us. We are so proud of the variety of kaupapa we’ve established to help whānau with a range of hauora needs. We aim to be innovative and eliminate barriers for whānau to participate in hauora. We believe that to empower our whānau to live a healthy and prosperous life we must first lead by example.
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?
Accessibility, Affordability and Achievability are common barriers that our communities face in Te Matau a Māui. From an exercise and fitness perspective, eliminating or reducing costs for travel and gym memberships can have a significant impact on our whānau wanting to participate in activities. Growing a Māori workforce is essential and encouraging our whānau to pursue careers in the health sector can ensure that services are driven by Māori, for Māori and utilise Te Ao Māori.
If you could change one thing for the well-being of whānau Māori in our rohe, what would it be?
Exercise should be FREE! We suffer from many health inequities and mental health is a key contributor. Participation in fitness and exercise can lead to positive mental health outcomes for whanau and communities. If we can have exercise on the doorsteps of our communities, if we can make exercise fun and achievable, if we can make it FREE for our people, we can impact the lives of many - especially our hard-to-reach whānau.
What does tino rangatiratanga mean to you in relation to health and wellbeing?
We understand the health issues and problems that we face as Māori, but we can also create solutions to these problems. Developing and implementing solutions for our marae, hapū and iwi is self-determination, taking control of our destiny and empowering our own to succeed.
What is your favourite whakataukī relating to health and wellness and why?
He aha te mea nui o tēnei ao? He tangata, he tangata, he tangata. We are in the health and education sector to Motivate, to Engage, to Konnect and to Empower our people, our people, our people.
Local Hauora Heroes: ORO ATUA
Jerome Kavanagh & Ruiha Turner – Oro Atua Wānanga Rongoā Puoro
Jerome Kavanagh Poutama (Ngāti Maniapoto - Matakore, Mōkai Pātea, Kahungunu, Ngāti Rangi - Awa Whanganui, Tūwharetoa, Caomhanach) is a Grammy award-winning Taonga Puoro Māori practitioner, composer and artist. Ruiha Turner (Ngāti Pāhauwera, Ngāti Kahungunu ki Te Wairoa) is a full-time Taonga Puoro Practitioner and Performing Artist. Together, Jerome (Puoro Jerome) & Ruiha are spearheading the revival of Taonga Puoro as rongoā - into kura, marae and community throughout Takitimu rohe, Aotearoa and abroad with Oro Atua: Wānanga Rongoā Puoro. They also specialise in revitalising the tīpuna practice of utilising Taonga Puoro during hapūtanga. The duo work in balance as Taha Wāhine & Taha Tāne. Currently Jerome & Ruiha are delivering ORO ATUA throughout Aotearoa and are gathering research into the healing effects of Taonga Pūoro. This will be the largest body of research for Taonga Puoro as Rongoā to date. Jerome & Ruiha share five tamariki, bringing their three youngest along for the hauora kaupapa.
Oro Atua is such an incredible kaupapa, combining ancient wisdom with whānau, hapū and the taiao. Can you tell us a bit about how you got involved in taonga puoro and how this led you to establish & develop ORO ATUA Wānanga Rongoā Puoro?
Through the teachings of his whānau and hapū, he was first introduced to Taonga Puoro by his Kuia who showed him a Pupurangi as a young child. As a 14-year-old his Aunty showed him a Kōauau which he naturally learnt to play. He developed his own unique playing style by walking his whenua close to the Ruahine Ranges, spending time listening and mimicking native bird calls with his voice.
After relocating from his rural tribal area to the city as a youth, Jerome battled with depression and several suicide attempts. To aid him in his recovery Jerome’s whānau guided him back home again to nature. It was here that he began his healing journey through the power of Taonga Puoro.
Over the past 21-years Jerome has become a full-time, independent Taonga Puoro practitioner and has come to be one of the most prolific providers of Puoro in Aotearoa, and the world. Jerome’s consistency and innovation in weaving Taonga Puoro back into the fabric of society is a continuation of the pathway forged by the late Dr. Hirini Melbourne.
Jerome developed and brought innovation to the world of Taonga Puoro as the creator of the ORO ATUA. This utilises and revives the Rongoā Māori ancestral practice of sound therapy in response to generational trauma for our people in modern times. He has shared the ORO ATUA extensively around Aotearoa in marae, wānanga, schools, universities and for team building & hauora events.
What is ORO ATUA about? Can you explain the kaupapa for our whānau who may be curious about what to expect when attending an ORO ATUA wānanga?
ORO ATUA spearheads the revival of our Tupuna practice of utilising Taonga Puoro first and foremost as Rongoā Māori. ORO is the sound vibration and ATUA refers to our Atua Māori that sing through each Puoro, we combine modern sound technology to create an orchestra of nature to help reconnect people to the natural world. Each Taonga Puoro holds the resonance and vibration of the different parts of our taiao opening the door to oneself and ultimately creates time and space for reflection, self-healing and for guidance to become clear, in this fast-paced, time-poor, modern world which we live in.
We utilise pūrākau, ruruku/karakia and waiata relating to each Taonga Puoro and varying Atua Māori. Together these taonga tuku iho unlock solutions to the challenges people face and are rongoā to empower whanau to lead their own healing.
It has been wonderful to follow your journey, delivering ORO ATUA throughout Takitimu. Can you please tell us about your mahi in collaboration Te Aka Whai Ora & Te Whatu Ora in our rohe?
In 2023 we were selected to deliver mātauranga Māori, focusing on our kaupapa, reviving Taonga Puoro as rongoā Māori for our whānau as a solution to healing the generational trauma we all face through colonisation.
We went back to Ruiha’s marae in Mohaka to share a wānanga there and then also to Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Ngāti Kahungunu ki Heretaunga, along with sharing wānanga at Moawhango and Opaea Marae near Taihape which is some of the inland boundaries of Takitimu waka.
Our wānanga consist of 3 parts; firstly, sharing Purākau around our Atua specifically those associated with Taonga Puoro, secondly through our ORO ATUA session which we hold in the whare Tīpuna and journey through as a whānau, hapu collective. The last part is to get our whānau making their own Taonga Puoro so they are able to utilise them as rongoā Māori at home for themselves and for their whānau in everyday life.
In Heretaunga we created 12 Pukaea together with whānau which will be passed onto future generations to use at the marae and for kaupapa, like Matariki. At our other marae we created Porotiti & Ukutangi for whānau to take home. Whaea Huria and Papa Rongopai Kira were really the ones that opened the door for us to get back to Mohaka and to Heretaunga - their mahi, vision and the beautiful way they weave whānau back to their marae is incredible and is a rongoā in itself.
What is your favourite thing about your mahi? What keeps you going?
Ruiha: I am deeply humbled by and grateful to be able to share our taonga tuku iho alongside my hoa rangatira, with our little whanau in tow. It’s truly amazing to see individuals experience a weight lifted from their shoulders. Our wānanga also offer a safe space for our people to reconnect with their culture without feeling whakamā - they simply lie down, relax and allow the sound to guide them, tapping into their own rangatiratanga. What motivates me is the profound transformations we observe in those we work with and the knowledge that we are contributing to the well-being of our wider whānau.
Jerome: My favorite thing about our mahi is that we get to dedicate ourselves fully to kaupapa Māori as a whānau and we don't have to get up and go work for someone else or a Pākehā kaupapa. We have full belief in our tīpuna and their guidance and when we roll like this, they take care of us too. I appreciate that they have given us the ORO ATUA to spearhead the revival of Taonga Puoro as Rongoā Māori for our people. Our tamariki and whānau come with us and are 100 percent a part of our mahi and kaupapa. Taonga Puoro is a normal part of their day-to-day life and I love that they get to grow up like that. I love that we get to spend so much time with our tamariki and whānau at so many of our marae we whakapapa to, alongside our whanaunga, sharing together in this revival and practice.
It definitely hasn't been an easy pathway and has taken many years and heaps of learning to trust and believe in our tīpuna, but in turn has shown us how to trust and believe in ourselves.
What does Hauora mean to you?
Ruiha: For me, Haoura is the connection to the past, present and future. It invites us to honor our tīpuna, and the wisdom they imparted through our ancestral healing practices. In the present, it reminds us that in the stillness, we have the space to be with our own sovereignty. Looking forward, it helps us reflect on how I can be a good tipuna. Hauora reminds me of the importance of a balanced, integrated approach to health and healing.
Jerome: Hauora for me is a reminder that the winds and air provide so much life for us all. Hauora is a constant practice of balance. It's noticing when things are out of balance and then putting into action the rebalance. Hauora is about what feels right and moving with that feeling.
What does tino rangatiratanga mean to you in relation to health and wellbeing?
Ruiha: To me, tino rangatiratanga embodies the essence of self-determination and it is the power to reclaim our healing practices.
Jerome: Rangatiratanga for me is the practice of making choices that are based on what feels right for us as whānau Māori in any given situation. Rangatiratanga is reclaiming what is right for us all day and every day that we can.
What is your favourite whakataukī relating to health and wellness and why?
“Puoro Atu Puoro Mai” is a very simple powerful one that means when we play our Puoro that what we are putting out in terms of intention and vibration is what we will hear back or what will be returned. This can be applied to the kupu we choose to say, how we are talking or what actions we are putting out there in the world. This kōrero reminds us to be careful and for our intentions to be full of care.
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