Close look at Mental Health Week

This year, the services of Te Runanga o Kirikiriroa staged a My Team Rules-themed week for all their Tangata Whaiora and Taiohi to celebrate Mental Health Awareness Week.

Every night two different services served up magnificent kai and demonstrated manaakitanga to their honoured guests with two main kaupapa in mind.

It was because the whole week is about acknowledging the Tangata Whaiora and Taiohi and their journey toward wellness and secondly, and just as importantly, to remind everyone we as Kaimahi do care and that goes for the other 51 weeks of the year when there is no formal recognition.

As a kaupapa Maori organisation, we understand the important role kai plays in our culture and, judging from the comments by some of the diners afterwards, the hosts did an outstanding job of feeding and caring for their guests.

So the million-dollar question is why do we do this kind of mahi and what exactly is it that makes it so special? I can't speak for all my esteemed colleagues but for me the best part is seeing the people you work with happy and healthy. While everyone is a unique individual it actually gives me a thrill to see faces light up and to be greeted enthusiastically when I arrive at work every day.

From someone who has worked for Te Runanga for the best part of eight years doing this kind of mahi that is just a small example of what makes my job what it is. I have known one or two of the Tangata Whaiora I work with for the whole time I have worked for the organisation so they really do feel like whanau to me.

When we come to work at the whare the whanau allow us to share their lives with them and in most cases we see them more often than close whanau.

To share in their hopes, dreams and aspirations is a wonderful thing and can be very rewarding. It also places a responsibility on kaimahi to provide good care for our whanau.

However, being there for the whanau and providing support when things aren't going so well is an even more important part of our roles. If I had to encapsulate everything about what I do into a short statement you need look no further than two basic Maori principles: Aroha and Manaaki.

Even when things aren't going great you need to remind yourself why you're here. We are here to try and make a difference in people's lives; to provide our whanau with a chance to live the most independent and dignified life possible.

It's not a glamorous line of work but a very necessary one. If you don't have the heart for it you probably won't enjoy doing the work.

All you need to remember when working in this field is that every person you work with is somebody's koro, nanny, mum, dad, son, daughter, aunty, uncle, brother, sister, niece, nephew or cousin. So treat people how you would like to be treated yourself.