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Ko te whakaora tūroro tuatahi o ngā mea tokotoru mō te rā tēnei e haere ake nei.
E ai ki ngā tātaunga mō te mate whakamomori ko tātou te Māori tētehi iwi e toromī ana, me te ara e ora ai te whānau me uaua ka kitea. Tērā tētehi pahi kua mārō nei ki te puku o te hāpori e āwhinatia te hunga e noho ngāueue ana.
I tū tā rātou whakakitenga whakamīharo i Te Ao Marama ki roto o Ōhinemutu i te rāhoroi ko hori. I whakaarangia ai te taratī ohaoha Patua Te Taniwha i te tau e rua mano, kotahi tekau mā iwa. Ko te tūpore tangata te take.
Me te rahi hoki o ngā whakakitenga ka whakatūria e rātou hai waha i tēnei kaupapa toimaha rukiruki, ara ko te whakamomori. Puta katoa mai te iwi, kaumātua mai he aha noa atu, kia whakawhānuihia tō rātou mōhiotanga ki tēnei mate, whoi anō i tutukingia ai mā te romiromi, mā te mirimiri, mā te haupūaroaro haohao, mā te haupūaroaro tāpiki, mā te noho me tētehi mātanga whakatika angaanga, te whakarauora tiota, te pānui kāri-ā-wairua me te romi waewae. Kātahi te rangi whakahirahira hoki.
Puta wairua hīkākā katoa te iwi, te tōrengitanga o te rā kua ea ngā taumahatanga.E ai ki te tiamana o te taratī ki a Mataku-Ariki De Roo ( Nō Te Whānau-a-Apanui, nō Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Manawa me Ngāti Whakaue) i whakaroangia te whakakitenga i runga i te tono a te iwi.
He ahakoa ngā uaua o te māuiui korona kua oti kē i a rātou ki a kotahi tekau mā toru ngā whakakitenga. Ko Waiata i te Pā i tū ki Pikirangi i te tau e rua mano kotahi tekau mā iwa tētehi. I tū anō hoki tētehi kaupapa ki te marae o Waitetī i te tau e rua mano, e rua tekau. Ko Hīkoi 4 Life tētehi i tū i te tau e rua mano, e rua tekau ki te kura o ngā tamāhine.
Ko Xmas in the Wai i tū ki te puna kaukau i te tau e rua mano, kotahi tekau mā iwa. Ko Hoe 4 Life ki te whanga o Hannahs i tu i te tau e rua mano e rua tekau me te tau whai muri atu. Ko Ride 4 Life i tu i te tau e rua mano, e rua tekau mā tahi mai i Rotorua ki Murupara ki Kawerau tae atu ki Maketu, ā, katahi ka hoki wawe ki Rotorua.
I tū hoki tētehi wānanga whakarauora wairua mō te whānau pani ki Tamatekapua i te Maehe i te tau e rua mano, e rua tekau mā tahi otīā tētehi whakakitenga whakaora hāpori i tū ki te kura o Ōwhata i te Oketopa i te tau e rua mano, e rua tekau mā tahi.
Nō te Āperira o tēnei tau ka whakamana e te taratī kia kotahi tekau mā tahi karahipi Manawa Ora hai āwhina i te rangatahi kotahi tekau mā tahi te pakeke tae atu ki te kotahi tekau mā iwa.
Ko te hunga ēnei e aro nui ana ki te mātauranga, ki te hākinakina me te hauora. Me tā rātou whakamihi ki te hunga nānā rātou i tautoko ā pūtea pēnei i a Te Rau Ora, JR McKenzie, Te Puni Kōkiri, Rotorua Council, RECT me te kōhanga reo ō Aorangi.
E rere āna whakamihi ki ngā taratī hoki ki a Cassey Thompson ki a Joanne Moore me ngā taratī o mua ki a Camilia Ransfield rātou ko Anahera Waaka-Stockman ko Tiria Kiel-Vercoe ko Wahia Walker-Poroa.
Ko te kaupapa nui kia whakapūarengia e te taratī te whatitoka ki ngā tohunga mōhio ki te tinana, marama ki te kōrero wairua, matatau ki te mātai hinengaro-a-Māori nei nā reira i nanao atu rātou ki Ngā Tohunga o te Moana a Toi me etehi atu mātanga.
E whā tekau ngā tau o Mataku. Tokowhā āna tamariki, he kotahi te mokopuna. I whānau mai i Opotiki i pakekengia i Otautahi. E muri aroha nei tēnei whaea ki tana mahi. He mea noho pātata ki a ia nā te mea ko tana matua tāne tētehi i riro atu nōna e rua tekau noa te rahi, e mau tonu nei tēnei āituā ki tōna ate.
Ko te mea nui kia mōhio ai te hāpori kai kōnei mātou hai kauawhi, hai amo otīā ki te āwhina. Ka mate atu tana mātua tāne kāore e tino nui ana ngā wāhi, ngā mātanga rānei hai manaaki i a ia, koina i whakaaraarangia ai e ia tēnei waka.
"I tātingia tēnei hikoinga āku i te tau e rua mano, kotahi tekau mā ono. Kātahi nā ahau ka kite atu te rahi o te iwi e raru ana i te whakamomori, ka tū ahau ki te hāpai, ki te whakatahā hoki ngā kōrero noa mō te mate whakamomori.
"Ka nui taku whakapono me kaha kē tātou ki te waha ngā whakaaro me ngā kare-ā-roto tēnā i te noho puku, e noho puku ana tātou, ka hīnāpōuri te whatumanawa ka taumaha te ate, ka mārō te wairua o te tangata".
Ko Mataku tētehi o te huinga kotahi ngāhuru i whakawhiwhia ki te taumata 2021 LifeKeepers Awards. He whakawhiwhinga e whakamihi ana te hunga hāpai i te kaupapa whakamomori hai painga mō te marea. Ko āna whakaaro mō te pae tawhiti kia hāpaingia tēnei kaupapa e te rangatahi mā rātou tētehi kaupapa hou e whakarewa ake mā rātou hoki e hautū, hai tāna ka kaha tautokongia ai rātou e te taratī.
Ko te hiahia nui hoki kia kawea tonutia e rātou ngā kaupapa nui pēnei me te Healing Expo, Ride 4 Life, whaihoki ngā karahipi rangatahi.
"Mēnā kai te pirangangia tātou, ka puta atu mātou ka tae ki te hunga e noho taumaha nā, engari kia tino mōhio ai te mārea, he kaupapa kaha tautokongia ana e te hunga tuku moni, ki te maroke taua puna e kore e taea e mātou te puta ki te hāpori āwhina ai."
He ahakoa he kaupapa-ā-rohe te whakakitenga nui i tū ki Te Ao Marama, tae mai te hunga manuwhiri i Porirua me ētehi wāhi kē atu.
He whakamihi hoki ki ngā tōhunga me ngā mātanga kawe mātauranga ki te rahi o Ngāti Whakaue ki te whare ki Te Ao Marama.
Whoi anō – he aha ki tūā ? kia pepehāngia e ahau, "Mā te kōtahitanga e whai kaha ai tātau. Māuri ora!"
— Na Raimona Inia i whakamaori tenei purongo.
Māori have some of the highest suicide rates in the world and finding a way to help whānau deal with the fallout is no easy journey.
A Rotorua roopu has for the past few years been working in the community trying to help in any way it can. Their latest healing expo was held at Te Ao Marama at Ōhinemutu on Saturday.
Patua Te Taniwha Charitable Trust was established in May, 2019, and holds a number of community events to spread the word on what type of help is available.
Whānau from tamariki right up to kaumātua from various backgrounds attended and experienced multiple traditional healing techniques such as mirimiri, energy healing, chiropractor, rainbow healing, crystal reading, tarot card reading and foot reflexology.
Whānau arrived eager for their needed healing and left, uplifted.
Trust chair Mataku-Ariki de Roo (Te Whānau-a-Apanui, Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Manawa, Ngāti Whakaue) said the expo hours were extended because there was still a lot of people waiting for healing.
Despite the Covid lockdowns which interfered kanohi-ki-te-kanohi engagement, the trust has held 13 events including Waiata in the Pā at Pikirangi Marae 2019 and Waiteti Marae 2020, Hīkoi 4 Life 2019 at the Village Green and 2020 at Rotorua Girls High School, Xmas in the Wai at the Aquatics 2019 and 2020, Hoe 4 Life at Hannahs Bay 2020 and 2021, Ride 4 Life 2021 from Rotorua, Murupara, Kawerau, Maketu and back to Rotorua, and Healing Wānanga for bereaved whānau at Tamatekapua Marae March 2021, and community healing expo at Owhata School October 2021.
This April the trust awarded 11 scholarships to support rangatahi aged 11-19 with their pursuits of mātauranga, hākinakina and their hauora.
The roopu acknowledges funders Te Rau Ora, JR McKenzie, Te Puni Kōkiri, Rotorua Council, Rotorua Energy Charitable Trust and the ongoing support of Aorangi Kōhanga Reo.
Mataku also thanks her fellow trustees Cassey Thompson and Joanne Moore, also past trustees Camilia Ransfield, Anahera Waaka-Stockman, Tiria Kiel-Vercoe, and Wahia Walker-Poroa for their support.
The healing expo is to give whānau, hapu and iwi the opportunity of healing by tohunga and is joined in its mission by Ngā Tohunga o te Moana a Toi and various independent healers.
Born in Opotiki and raised in Ōtautahi where her mother had moved to work, Mataku, 40, has four children and a mokopuna who all live in Rotorua. She is passionate about her mahi which was sparked by the suicide of her father when she was 20.
She wants to ensure tamariki, rangatahi and all whānau know there is help available.
It was acknowledgement that little help and resources were available when her father died and when she experienced the ripple effect of suicide herself, which spurred her to set up the trust.
"Once my healing journey began in 2016 I realized so many other people were affected by suicide and I wanted to help to stop the silence and stigma associated with suicide. I believe talking about what's going on inside with our thoughts and feelings is better than holding it in which weighs you down and affects our hinengaro and wairua."
Mataku was one of ten recipients of the 2021 LifeKeepers Awards for contributions to suicide prevention. For the future, she hopes a group of rangatahi will pick up the rākau to create and lead our future kaupapa and we support them however they need from the background.
They hope also to continue to hold the following kaupapa annually; Healing expo, Ride 4 Life, and rangatahi scholarships.
"We are available to support whānau and community groups if there is a need. We rely on the support of funders so we can continue holding our community kaupapa."
Although the Te Ao Marama expo was a regional event, in past healings they have had people come from as far away as Porirua.
Mataku hopes to keep these healing expos going.
She acknowledged the tohunga who came from all over the north island and Ngāti
Whakaue for the hireage of Te Ao Marama Hall.
And for the future?
The trust values the whakatauki "Ma te kotahitanga e whai kaha ai tatau — In unity we have strength".
OPINION: Treaty principles need to remain tied to the historical Treaty.