Twelve days of Christmas: New Zealand Gynaecological Cancer Foundation

Auckland Airport is giving $10,000 each to 12 charities as part of its annual 12 Days of Christmas initiative. The Herald is profiling each initiative in the lead up to the big day. The $120,000 came from change dropped off by travellers at the airport this year.

One in five women in New Zealand have some form of gynaecological cancer.

A large portion of that group are women from a Pasifika background, Jan Barker from the New Zealand Gynaecological Cancer Foundation told the Herald.

Barker said one of the biggest issues was often a language barrier between patients and doctors.

"It is coming through that a lot of the woman of those cultures don't understand the meaning of the word, gynaecological, and it's a taboo area, they don't like to discuss it," Barker said.

The $10,000 grant from Auckland Airport will be a great help in helping to raise awareness among Pasifika women, Barker said.

The main goal is for women to be aware of what their body is telling them and to stop the disease in its early stages.

The foundation plans to use the money to translate one of their brochures into several different languages.

"It is awesome - we're quite passionate about it actually.

"It's great for us because one of our targets is to translate [the brochures] so that people can understand us more," Barker said.

Auckland Airport's general manager of people and safety Anna Cassels-Brown said the foundation was a worthy recipient.

"Strong, healthy women are vital for families, communities and workplaces, so we're thrilled to support a charity that will benefit Pasifika women living across the city," she said.