Kāhu ki Rotorua: Mē ko Hinemoa - No force equal to that of a determined woman

Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air

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Kātahi te māuiui whakaharahara ko tēnei ko te mate urutā kowheori nana i horomi ngā tini tangata me ngā tini mahi ka utaina e ia ōna pōuritanga ki runga i a tātou te tangata pēnei i a Roimata Forde he ahakoa tēnei taumahatanga kua pūarengia tōna titiro ki te whakaara ake i tana pākihi motuhake.

He māmā takakau, tokorua āna tamariki ko Eraia te mātāmua, e rima ōna pakeke, ko Te Winika te whakapakanga e toru ōna pakeke.

He mātanga haumanu romiromi waihoki ko te waihanga me te hoko-ā-ipurangi ngā tote kaukau tana mahi.He rua tekau mā whitu tōna pakeketanga, kua rima tau e tauira ana i te kura Evolution Beauty i Whangārei, ā, he pōkairua hoki tāna i te kaupapa haumanu whakaatahua.

He poumahi tawhito mō te rima tau mā Polynesian Spa me te hōhipera Kūini Ihihāpeti engari ka whakatārewangia a Roimata e enei wāhi mahi i te whakaputanga mai o te mate urutā.

Nō te kaupeka kua pahemo nei kua kore hiahiatia tangata mahi e ngā pākihi o te tāone nā reira i whakaraara ake i tāna ake pākihi mahi. Ka whakauru atu a tauira nei a Roimata ki te tīkiri pākihi i te Whare Wānanga o Waikato, tōna rā tuatahi i Tauranga kua mātau ia kua tika rawa tēnei huarahi hou māna.

Ko te wā hoki tēnei i tūponohia tōna whakaruruhau romiromi a Johanna Oddisson. Ka pātai atu e Johanna ki te take ka noho tauira a Roimata, ka whakakīa te pātai e ia, ko te manu kai i te mātauranga nōna te ao.

Aonga ake ka unuhia tōna ingoa i te karaihe, ka wawe tana whakaara pākihi motuhake māna. Ka āta manaakihia e Johanna a Roimata. He pūkenga kua toru tekau tau e mahi romiromi ana a Johanna engari kua rītaia ia.

He tauira ki Toi Oho Mai e ako nei i te hākinakina me te kaupapa haumanu hei whakatō mai i ngā whakaakoranga tawhito i tōna kōhamo.

Kua whakaputaina hoki e ia e hia kē ngā momo rīpene, ko ngā kaupapa kai te wā ia e ako ana – mō te mahi rīpene me whakahuri ngā whakaaro anō nei ko ia te tangata mātakitaki, ka tīni i te ia o te reo kia rata mai te hunga ki tana kaupapa ako.

He ahakoa e noho kāinga nei tēnei māmā takakau nō Ngāti Tūwharetoa, ehara i te mea ka māngere noa ia.

He wā akoako, he wā pānui pukapuka, he wā whakatakoto rautaki, he mōhio nōna me i kore te rangahau me uaua kē te whakaaranga ake o tāna pākihi.

Roimata Forde.

E whakahīhī nei a Roimata i tōna mōhiohio he kore utu āna mahi rangahau. Ko Eden Organics tana pākihi ā ipurangi nānā ake ngā tote kaukau me ētehi anō kame whakarākei tangata i waihanga.

"Ka nui rawa atu taku painga ki ēnā taonga koia ēnei hei perehana māku ka tukua mai e ōku kiri tata"."Kounga kē taku mahi engari ko te pae tuatahi kau tēnei". Ko tōna moemoeā mātua, ae kia riro māna tana ake whare waiariki engari ko te whakaemi pūtea e taea ai e ia ki te whakaputa rāina tauraki pūeru mā te hunga hāua."

Te pae tawhiti. Nā tōku koroua tētehi mā tōku māmā nōku e taiohi ana nā te mea he hāua tōku māmā he wahine noho ki tōna wīra tūru, he uaua māna ki te tauraki pūeru ki te rāina".

"Nōku te rangatiratanga, kia kāua au e hakeke ki tētehi rangatira me i māuiui aku tamariki".

Roimata Forde is a massage therapist and also has a business creating self care products.

Hāunga te mahi he Pononga hoki ia e whakapono kaha nei ki te Karaiti, kai Harvest Church e kauawhiawhi ana ia ngā tini kaupapa ā hāpori e hāpai nei ngā māmā pēnei i a ia.Kua hau kē te rongo kōrero mō ngā māmā e kaha tuku nei i te aroha, ka oti ana, e mokemoke nei, kai te whakamomori kāre he paku aha hei whakaora i a rātou, nā tēnei āhuatanga ka rewa ake te kaupapa Wahi Aroha, motuhake he kaupapa manaaki, he kaupapa poipoi ngā māmā ki roto i te hohonutanga o te aroha.

Ka tīmatahia te waihanga tote kaukau i ngā wānanga ka piki ake ki te pēke tākai aroha takitahi, ā, kātahi ka tukua ēnei ki Tipu Ora.

He mana nui tō ngā wānanga haupūaroaro, ngā wānanga romiromi inā rawa te kounga o wēnei wānanga rokohanga he manuao pēpi hai whakawātea ngā māmā kia āīo tūturu te noho mai.

Kare kau tōna mōhio ki te kupu tataku kua titia ngā kupu whakahau a tōna whakaruruhau ki tōna rae, me he mahi kai te aroaro, mahia!

Fallout from Covid-19 not only made life hard for Roimata Forde but also opened her mind to starting her own business.

Roimata Forde is a massage therapist and also has a business creating self care products.

The single mother of Te Winika, 3, and Eraia, 5, is a massage therapist and also has a business creating self care products.

Roimata, 27, trained five years ago at the Evolution School of Beauty in Whangarei, and has a Diploma in Beauty Therapy.

She worked at the Polynesian Spa and Queen Elizabeth for four years until being made redundant when covid struck.

In the past year no one was hiring so she turned to pursuing her own business.

She enrolled for a business degree at the University of Waikato. Day one when she turned up at the Tauranga campus she knew it was not for her.

That's also when she met her mentor, Osteopath Johanna Ottosson

Johanna asked why she was bothering studying, the only way to succeed in business is to just do it.

Roimata withdrew from the course and next day started her business.

Johanna gave Roimata the benefit of her 30 years' experience but has now retired.

She enrolled at Toi Ohomai to study sports and therapeutic and to refresh the learnings from five years before.

Roimata has produced a number of videos, based on what she is reading or studying at any one time.

For her videos she has had to put herself in the head space of people watching.
She modifies her natural manner of speaking to reach her audience.

While a stay-at-home mum, the uri of Tuwharetoa, whose whanau come from Waitahanui, concentrated on reading and research.

Roimata Forde is a massage therapist and also has a business creating self care products.

If she had started her business without doing her research, Roimata knows it would have been much harder.

She is proud of the fact that her studies have cost her nothing.

Her online business is Eden Organics, her own bath salts and a selection of self-care products.

"Those are the things that I like. People who know me give those sorts of things for my birthday."

"I love what I do in my business but it's only a stepping stone to the next thing.

She wants to own her own spa but ultimately, Roimata wants to earn enough money to design a product that cannot be mentioned, that disabled people can use. "My koro made one for my mother when I was young.

"My mother is disabled and it was hard for her to hang out the washing because she was in a wheelchair."

"I like things being on my terms

"The thing that drives me the most is not having to ask an employer for time off if one of the boys is unwell."

But it's not all business. Through her church, Harvest Centre, Roimata has been involved in a number of community projects helping mums.

Experience had shown there were a number of lonely, uninspired mothers who gave so much for their children they had little left for themselves.

Their project, Wahi Aroha, created a space where it was okay for mums to practise self-care and self-love.

They started making salts and through workshops created self-care packs which went to Tipu Ora. Workshops on relaxation massage techniques really hit the spot and organisers even arranged babysitters so mums could be free to participate.

Roimata can't see herself slowing down any time soon, and she has taken on board her mentor's urging that if something needs doing, do it.