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HOPE in Hastings: Growing
strong, healthy mokopuna
We want strong,
healthy families
who will grow
strong, healthy
tamariki and
rangatahi; we want
our mokopuna to
grow up ‘tight’,”
says Mr Mackey.
This year Te Puni Kökiri staff were asked to
support a community crisis HOPE hui after
several rangatahi from Raureka in Hastings
committed suicide.
Thirty five people took their own lives in the
Hastings coronial region in the twelve months
to September 2012. When he released the
statistics Chief Coroner Judge Neil MacLean
told the media it’s time to bring the issue of
suicide out from the shadows.
“Significant is the jump in teenage suicide
numbers and the continued rise of Mäori
suicides, in particular: young Mäori.”
Te Puni Kökiri contracts adviser George
Mackey worked alongside the Raureka
Raureka whänau gather for HOPE.
families and says their decision to hold the
HOPE hui was not taken lightly.
“They were clear: they wanted information
to support their whänau. They also wanted
to identify their own goals and aspirations as
whänau and as a community.”
Kia Piki te Ora runs suicide prevention
programmes and their team helped
focus mahi on increasing awareness and
identifying services and support. The HOPE
session saw members working together to
identify collective strengths and to also work
out what wasn’t working well.
“We are a small tight-knit community, made
up of whänau who know and understand
each other well.
Raureka locals are building on
the HOPE session’s success and
are hosting regular information
sessions and community
events – a basketball team’s
been launched, pot luck
dinners are being hosted as
well as camps in local parks
- with support from local
councils as well as the Ministry
of Education. Organisations
helping Raureka on their
journey to wellness include
Te Taiwhenua o Heretaunga, Kia Piki te
Ora, Hastings District Council, Hawkes Bay
District Health Board, Minister of Education,
NZ Police, Te Taitimu Trust and Te Puni Kökiri.
Whänau Ora Minister Tariana Turia
addressed a Kia Piki te Ora hui earlier this
year and said investing into whänau and
drawing them together to take control of
their future is a key part of healing.
“It is utterly and completely natural to have
days of sunshine and days of rain; to be
swept by the breeze and to sit quietly in the
calm. Our challenge lies in how we navigate
the passage through, to grow with the flow,
and to reach the rapids, proud and strong, as
positive, living iwi Mäori.”
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