Dave Letele visited Cyclone Gabrielle hit Hawkes Bay and gave his impassioned response to the destruction there.
Video / BBM / NZ Herald
Dave Letele’s tour to the Cyclone Gabrielle disaster zone concluded with a trip to the worst-hits parts of Napier - the Esk Valley. What he found were more communities who feel support drives through their neighbourhoods and never stops or flies overhead looking down at them
The suffering he has seen in these areas has floored him.
What I have seen in Gisborne, and now Napier, has got to me. I am speechless. There’s not a lot that can floor me but what I’ve seen from these places has deeply affected me.
I’ve been a boxer and been in some tough situations but none of those I fought in the ring could have left me more dazed than witnessing the maemae (hurt) the whenua (land), as well as the whānau, are suffering. Since being on the ground in those two areas, I’m having trouble sleeping as I really wonder how these people can get on with their lives.
In Napier I went to Esk Valley and to Mike King’s Wellness Centre he has set up in Napier. It was not a tourist trip.
I spent a bit of time with a Samoan family of eight through a group BBM (Letele’s organisation) are supporting called Polyactive. This whānau have been displaced and are living in a one-bedroom motel, paying $580 a week. They can’t get any assistance from Income Support because dad works fulltime and mum part-time, while she studies towards a social worker’s certificate. The six kids are at school but the move makes it tough to attend every day.
This whānau of eight are living in a one-bedroom motel, paying $580 a week. Photo / Dua Suamili
They are not bludgers but the dad told me maybe if he just left his job, Kainga Ora could help relocate this family to a home. They can’t rent a normal house because when landlords see six kids, they run a mile.
I also spent time with an old man who thought he had lost his wife when the floods hit. She luckily managed to hold on to a tree until she was rescued, and he found her at the vaccination centre. He’s an old-school Māori guy but he was there trying to dig out his campervan, which had been covered in silt, on his own. I will try to sort him one from Auckland.
I also met a family of three who had lost everything. That whānau said only three homes in their neighbourhood were door-knocked. They were given $600 to buy food and bedding and were thankful, but know it’s not enough. Give people the maximum allowance they are entitled to and don’t make our people beg and bow down.
I also met a Pākehā woman, Trina, who was digging at her home. She was so elated just to find one of her pots. It’s little wins like that which make me smile. I ended up donating $5,000 to her whānau - not to her but to her husband. She was too proud but I said that’s the only kind of support I can give to you at this moment and she grudgingly accepted it.
What I noticed missing from the areas I visited was a lack of heavy construction equipment.
People just don’t know what to do. There’s no communication with officials and there’s a real sense of frustration, which will soon turn into resentment.
Dave Letele adding a father's touch to his visit to Napier. Photo / Dana Suamili
There are so many community and first-responder heroes that have come from Cyclone Gabrielle, like Te Paea Wilson from Timi Kara Marae, who organised a friend - a helicopter pilot - who brought in supplies for the community.
They told me that initially, they got no official support. BBM left a $10,000 koha to help them out.
So my call to Prime Minister Chris Hipkins is: you can’t just fly in and fly out. There needs to be a connection between you and the people most affected by Cyclone Gabrielle.
Chris, you must connect with the grassroots, marae, community organisations and groups who work within each community. They know what’s needed and where the need is.
I know you are a busy man but your people - New Zealanders - need you and want a leader who has compassion to see and acknowledge what they are going through.
When I spoke to marae chairs, they said the Government were calling in consultants on matters like soft banks alongside rivers. Why not talk to locals who know exactly what needs to be done?
There’s no communication with the people that matter.
Once again it appears those in Wellington know what’s best for these people - whether they like it or not.
If you took out the Government from the Cyclone Gabrielle response, nothing would really change. If you took out the community from the response, there would be no recovery.
