Empower Yourself With A Warrant Of Fitness

Publicity Release
Tuesday September 1 2009

Empower Yourself With A Warrant Of Fitness

Isabelle was a full-blown drug addict by the time she was 16. Her addiction nearly cost her everything she cared about, but thirty years on, she has turned her life around and is helping other parents fight their demons.

Isabelle’s story is just one of the many inspiring tales of sickness and health that feature in the latest series of Maori Television’s WARRANT OF FITNESS, which premieres on Tuesday, September 8 at 9.30 PM.

From drug dependence to the effects of premature birth on a family, cancer care to a clear-cut guide to the coronial process, the show is packed with practical information and sound advice on a range of issues from a distinctively Maori perspective.

In the first episode this season, WARRANT OF FITNESS visits Ben Hekenui, the man whose legs were ripped off in a workplace accident last year.

Later in the series, the team finds out just how much a funeral costs these days and they talk to a South Auckland company that is using the downturn in the economy as an opportunity to get its workforce fit and healthy for when things pick up again.

Producer Amanda Jones, from Auckland’s Faultline Films, says WARRANT OF FITNESS is a great forum for people to integrate mainstream health issues with being Maori.

“It’s all about empowerment. It’s about people sharing stories they wouldn’t normally share to give others the knowledge to change their future,” she says.

“Their stories represent our whanau, our hapu, our iwi and other people we care about within our communities… and if somebody watching identifies with something that is affecting them or their whanau, then it is a worthwhile outcome for us.”

Dr Lily Fraser joins WARRANT OF FITNESS as the resident medical expert this series, along with Dr Lance O’Sullivan, who returns from the last series.

Young, smart and fluent in te reo, having been completely schooled in full immersion Maori education across Auckland, Dr Fraser is passionate about working with Maori communities and has the long-term goal of lecturing in Maori health.

When she’s not dishing out health advice on the set, Dr Fraser also sits on the board of Te Ohu Rata o Aotearoa Maori Doctors’ Association and works at the White Cross Accident and Medical Clinics in Auckland.

Tune in for a health check and share real-life stories of sickness and health in this latest series of WARRANT OF FITNESS, screening on Maori Television on Tuesday September 8 at 9.30 PM.

ENDS

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