Kāhu ki Rotorua: A vision to connect, uplift and empower whānau

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See below for English translation

E kaha ai te wairua, e ora ai te tinana

Ki te paparahuai māua ko te taratī ohaoha o Patua te Taniwha noho, whakawhiti kōrero ai. Ko te take kia mātau hoki ai tatau katoa ki ā rātau mahi whakahirahira.

■ He aha te take i whakaarangia ai tā kotou kaupapa rangatira?

He whakamomori te take matua i whakaaraarangia ai te taratī ohaoha o Patua te Taniwha. Nō te tau e rua mano, kotahi tekau mā iwa māunu ai tō tātau waka. Hai waka atawhai, hai waka aroha, hai waka kauawhiawhi i te hunga e tāmi ana i ngā whakaaro mōrearea. E tika ana hoki mā te Māori hoki tātau te iwi taketake e manaaki. E kaha ai te wairua, e ora ai te tīnana, e mārama ai te hinengaro ō te hunga māwherangi. Kua hipa ngā tau e toru mātau e mahi tahi ana i te hāpori. Ko te aronga tuatahi, he tākai i te wharemate ki te aroha, nā wai rā ka tūwherangia ngā ringaringa ki ngā whānau katoa e noho pāiriiri ana. Ka naohia ngā Tohunga me ngā ringa atawhai o te hāpori, pēnei me ngā Tohunga Rongoā me ngā mātanga romiromi hai awhina i ā mātau kaupapa.

■ Kōrerohia te hunga mahi me te momo whakangungu poumahi e kaha ai rātau ki tēnei ao?

Tokotoru ngā wahine rangatira e ārahi ana i tō mātau waka. He toiora katoa ēnei rangatira. Ko Mataku-Ariki De Roo te haeoratu o te whare, nōna te whakaaro ake ki te whakaaraara he whare pēnei te mana; ko Cassey Thompson te hekeritari koia anō hoki tētehi o ngā pou-matua, ko Joanne Moore te ringa tiaki pūtea. Koia ko ēnei ngā anahera tokotoru o te whare manaaki. E mahi tahi ai mātou me ngā Tohunga o te Moana-a-Toi me ēra atu o ngā waka hauora.

Wheoi anō ko ō mātau tōhunga he rangatira heke iho katoa rātau i ngā kāwai mātatoru o nehe rā. He hunga noho hoki rātau ki te whakapakari ki te haukaha hoki i ngā tikanga e noho pai ai mō ngā rā o naianei.

■ Ko wai te hunga ka whiwhi oranga i tēnei kaupapa?

Ko te iti, ko te nui, ko te poto, ko te roa, ko te takitahi ko te takitini. Ko te hunga ora katoa. E pūare te kūwaha o te whare ki ngā whānau. Ki kōnei rātau noho haupūaroaro ai i raro i ngā kaokao o Rongo, i raro hoki i ngā taketake o Tāne.

■ He aha rā te whāinga ā pae tata, ā pae tawhiti hoki?

Ko te pae tata ē hoa, he kawe i ngā wānanga ā Wairua ia koatatanga o te tau ki te puku o te hāpori. E mea ana ngā kauwae o te hāpori, he hiahia nui tēnei e ora ai rātau.

Ko te pae tawhiti ko te kimi whare tūturu e mana ai tēnei kaupapa. E mana ai ā mātau kawenga mahi katoa. Rokohanga ana e mātau he pūtea hohonu e kaha ai te manaaki me te tiaki i ngā rangatahi me ngā wānanga ā whānau ki a tū ki te puku o te hāpori, wheoi anō, kāore e kitea. Mō ngā tau e toru ko hipa, māturuturu iho ai te pūtea tautoko i Te Rau Ora me tō rātau taha pūtea tautoko i te hunga kaupare whakamomori.

■ He aha rā e hoa, he kaupapa ā rohe, ā motu rānei tēnei?

Āe, kai te tika koe, ā he kaupapa a rohe nei, anō kua tae mai ngā whānau i ngā whāitua huhua o te motu. Mai i Taumarunui, Whakaoriori, Whakatāne, Ōpōtiki, Kawerau, Murupara, Okoroire, Kirikiriroa, Tauranga me Te Puke ko te take, ki a noho mai rātau i ngā wānanga hauora.

Kua kaha ake te mana o tēnei pahi rikiriki. Nō te Haratua o te tau nei, kai tētehi hui i tū i Te Ao Marama i pau katoa ngā nohanga i te hunga ngākau tirotiro. Kātahi ka toko ake te whakaaro i a Mataku-Ariki ki te whakarite pepa tirotiro kia mōhio ai ia ki te hunga e aro nui ana ki ngā wānanga. E ai ki ngā whika whakamutunga i kohia ē ia ko te rahinga o te hunga ka tae ki ngā wānanga kai te takiwā o te kotahi tekau mā waru tae ki te waru tekau o ngā tau te rahi. E iwa tekau mā toru ira kotahi o enei tangata he Māori. Ko te nuinga hoki o ēnei tangata nō Rotorua nei. Wheoi anō kai tahaki hoki te hunga i tae mai i rohe kē atu. Me te take i tahuri mai ngā whānau ki ngā kaupapa wairua, ka tohua e rātau kia whiria he kotahi, he takitini rānei ngā take.

e whā tekau mā whā ira waru tekau mā toru paihēneti o te hunga i kī ake he hauora ā tīnana te take i tae ai rātau. E rima tekau mā rima ira kotahi tekau mā whitu paihēneti i kī ake he hauora ā hinengaro te take engari, he kotahi rau paiheneti i kī ko te taha wairua te kaupapa matua. Ka kitea hoki e rātau e kaha piki ake te tataunga tāne me ngā whānau e puta mai ana ki ngā wānanga. E whitu tekau mā iwa ira toru tekau mā tahi paihēneti i kī ake kua rangitūhāhāngia ō rātau kawatau mō te wānanga, e rua tekau ira e ono tekau mā iwa paihēneti i kī, āe i tutuki ngā wawata, e toru ira whā tekau mā rima paiheneti i kī ake kāore i tutuki o rātau wawata i te wānanga nei.

English Translation

■ What is the kaupapa and what was the purpose of initiating it?

Patua Te Taniwha Charitable Trust are a local suicide awareness, guidance and support entity who established in 2019. The rōpu work from a kaupapa Māori lens and whānau-centric approach. We wanted to create opportunities for whānau to access free holistic healing to help uplift their wairua and hinengaro while also helping their tinana.

We have been holding community healings for 3 years now. Our first healing was focused on supporting suicide bereaved whānau and then we decided to open the healings to all whānau in our community. Utilising Tohunga and Healers, we offer traditional and alternative healing services.

■ Who is involved and what training is required?

The trust is led by three wāhine Māori with lived experience. They are Mataku-Ariki De Roo founder and chairwoman; Cassey Thompson founder and secretary and Joanne Moore, finance manager.

We work alongside our rōpu, Ngā Tohunga o te Moana-ā-Toi and other local independent healers. Our Tohunga acquire their abilities through bloodlines and hold regular wānanga to keep working on their practice.

■ Who benefits from the Kaupapa and how?

Individuals and whānau can engage with different healing modalities such as mirimiri, Tohunga energy healing, reiki, kinesiology, chiropractic, wairua reading and tarot card reading.

■ What is the short- and long-term goals?

Healers Ngā Tōhunga o te Moana-a-Toi providing hands on healing at the trusts Wairua Healing.

The trust’s short-term goal is to continue our current support of holding quarterly wairua Healing spaces in our community. We recognise the need from whānau is to be able to access more wairua healings.

The long-term goal is to source a physical space for us to operate out of, preferably large enough to hold our regular healings. We are seeking an ongoing funder to enable us to be able to provide more support for our rangatahi and wānanga for whānau in our community.

For the last 3 years, we have received funding support from Te Rau Ora, through their Māori Community Suicide Prevention Fund.

■ Is this regional or national?

It is regional, however, whānau have travelled from as far as Taumarunui, Masterton, Whakatāne, Ōpōtiki, Kawerau, Murupara, Okoroire, Hamilton, Tauranga, and Te Puke to attend our wānanga.

The community healings have become increasingly popular the last few years. The turnout at their previous community healing in May at Te Ao Marama Hall was that great they ran out of chairs.

Chairwoman, Mataku-Ariki decided to implement a survey to capture who is attending and what the outcomes are. The feedback from the recent healing showed the age group ranged from 18-80 years old. 93.1% of attendees are Māori. The majority are locals but whānau also travelled from out of town.

When looking at why whanau attended they selected either one or multiple reasons what they wanted support with; 44.83 per cent physical health, 55.17 per cent mental health and 100 per cent spiritual wellbeing.

There was a further increase in tāne attendance and whānau attending together so that they could all receive healing. 79.31% of whānau stated their healing expectaions were exceeded, 20.69 per cent expectations were met and 3.45 per cent satisfactory.